Smart Spending: Inexpensive Strategies for IT Professional Development in Higher Education

Ongoing professional development is critical to the success of IT staff in higher education. Colleges and universities depend on IT team members to continually sharpen their skills in digital infrastructure for learning, research, and administration to meet the evolving needs of their students. Ongoing learning enables IT staff to learn new skills, expand their knowledge, and grow in their careers.

However, many institutions struggle to find financial resources to provide their employees with the professional development they need. Political forces continue to shape institutional budgets, and many colleges and universities target professional development and travel budgets—many of which have not returned to pre-COVID levels—when making the first round of cuts.^Footnote1 Budget freezes, travel restrictions, and staff reductions increase demands on a workforce that continues to deal with the ongoing effects of the pandemic. Distributed remote staff present additional challenges for conducting traditional upskilling and team-building activities, such as in-person retreats and workshops.

Fortunately, there is a range of cost-effective opportunities available to both individuals and institutions, from free online courses and mentoring circles to internally developed learning communities and vendor-sponsored training. Investing time and creativity in these approaches supports individual career growth while also strengthening institutional resilience and innovation. Leaders should deliberately craft professional learning opportunities to meet institutional and individual needs, and these opportunities don't have to come with a high price tag.

The following professional development strategies can help IT leaders foster an environment where professional learning is valued and recognized, even in the face of budgetary and structural challenges.

Fostering a Culture of Continuous Learning

As a first step toward developing budget-friendly strategies, IT leaders should consider how they support staff members in their learning journeys. IT leaders can actively make space for career growth discussions, encourage curiosity, and identify opportunities for team members to build new skills and expand their knowledge.^Footnote2

Allocate Time for Learning

According to a 2024 EDUCAUSE IT workforce report, "70 percent of respondents reported having workloads that are 'somewhat excessive' or 'very excessive,' and nearly as many (68 percent) reported that their workload had increased over the past twelve months."^Footnote3 Excessive workloads can lead to burnout, which is why it's important for leaders to reduce barriers to career growth, ensuring their employees have the time, resources, and support needed to learn.

For smaller teams already working at or beyond capacity, consider using the 25% Plan, an exercise to help teams "identify and reduce their least valuable work in order to regain 25 percent of their time for new priorities."^Footnote4 While work projects should remain a priority, IT leaders should show empathy and actively support team members' personal and professional well-being.

Encourage Individual Development Plans

Individual team members should also take the initiative to pursue professional development by working with their supervisors to develop tailored plans. Identifying the right career pathway and ongoing learning opportunities should align with both individual goals and organizational needs. Staff members can collaborate with managers, peers, mentors, or professional coaches to shape these plans.

Individuals can create their own plans even if their institutions don't require them. This is a great opportunity to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support brainstorming. While there are AI tools specifically designed to generate professional development plans, such as Toolable or Writecream, a few well-designed prompts to ChatGPT or a similar tool can yield creative results. Individuals should review these plans with their manager every three to twelve months (preferably quarterly) to ensure progress is being made, goals are adjusted as career aspirations change, and successes are celebrated.

Take Staff Location into Account

Over the last decade, many IT teams have transitioned to hybrid or fully remote working environments. IT leaders and staff members should be intentional about including remote team members in professional development opportunities.^Footnote5 Occasional in-person gatherings can help foster stronger team cohesion. Leaders can also leverage virtual options by scheduling mini team retreats or workshops.

Share Insights

IT leaders should encourage staff to share insights following any training activity, networking event, conference, or cross-functional project. This can be an effective way to foster continuous learning and extend professional development opportunities when attendance needs to be limited or staggered. IT leaders can encourage staff to engage in a variety of professional development activities:

• Share slides, recordings, visuals, or a book by the speaker.^Footnote6
• Write a LinkedIn or blog post.
• Schedule a coffee chat or lunch-and-learn event to discuss the topic.
• Create a brief presentation (helpful for those looking to improve their public speaking skills).
• Provide virtual introductions if new connections have common interests with other team members.

Recognize Accomplishments

Acknowledging and celebrating accomplishments, both large and small, can boost team morale and motivate individuals on their career journey.^Footnote7 IT leaders can recognize staff publicly or through personalized gestures:

• Launch a digital badging program for your organization.^Footnote8 This provides formal recognition of an individual's achievement, motivating staff to engage in continuous learning and skill development.
• Offer congratulations in a one-on-one setting or via email (for team members who prefer not to be praised publicly).
• Announce achievements in a departmental email, newsletter, or social media post.
• Provide a LinkedIn recommendation highlighting a staff member's new achievement.
• Share kudos in a department meeting or all-staff gathering.
• Leverage an existing employee-of-the-month or other recognition program.
• Send a handwritten note or gift card.

Supporting Professional Development on a Budget

Even when budgets are tight, IT leaders have many low-cost opportunities to encourage professional growth and development that benefit the staff members and the organization. Look for opportunities that align with current organizational needs and each person's professional development plan.

Explore Institutional Offerings and Create Opportunities

Campus-based programs may be free or low-cost and are usually the most accessible options for staff.

• Encourage staff to take part in campus leadership development programs, if offered. This is a great way to build individual skills and foster networking.^Footnote10
• Take advantage of tuition remission policies that allow staff to take or audit a course for no or low cost. This may require flexible work hours.
• Promote staff participation in employee resource or special-interest groups. For example, does your campus have a women in technology group or an AI learning community? Learning and leadership opportunities abound in groups like these.
• Invite guest speakers to join your team or department meetings. Staff can suggest speakers or topics.
• Coordinate lunch-and-learn sessions focused on key topics for your unit or institution. If possible, develop these sessions in collaboration with other schools or departments. Create a staff committee to schedule topics and speakers.
• Host a reading club and discuss relevant books, articles, or reports. This can be a team-driven activity and help staff develop presentation skills.
• Schedule public speaking workshops so staff can practice creating and sharing presentations. Public speaking can often be a barrier to advancement for many people, but it is an important skill for career growth in many areas.
• Organize small group or one-on-one lunches or informal conversations with a member of the leadership team. These interactions can go a long way toward helping staff feel valued and make leaders more accessible and approachable.

Check Out What's Available Locally or Regionally

Community engagement can lead to stronger professional networks, mentoring opportunities, new skill development, and expanded perspectives.

• Local networks (for example, the Pittsburgh Technology Council, RedChair, and the NYTech Alliance) provide opportunities to broaden connections and often offer leadership opportunities as well as chances for staff members to develop presentation skills in a welcoming environment.
• Local or regional association chapters (for example, the Association for Computing Machinery and the Information Systems Security Association) can be great places to access webinars, attend lectures, and connect with national organizations.
• Local technology-focused companies may welcome group visits to learn about their business.
• Staff at local or regional colleges and universities may be open to collaboration. Inviting IT staff from a neighboring institution to be an invited speaker or develop other learning experiences can help build stronger professional networks.

Encourage Mentoring

Although they require an ongoing investment of time, mentoring programs typically have a relatively low budgetary impact. Pairing a newer staff member with a more experienced colleague offers the newer staff member a way to receive guidance, support, and help navigating the college or university environment. While the primary goal of this type of mentoring is to help with onboarding and create a sense of belonging, mutual learning and reciprocal mentoring can occur as these relationships develop. According to a 2019 EDUCAUSE report, "71 percent of higher education IT mentors and 86 percent of mentees (or protégés) reported that mentoring had made a moderate or great contribution to their professional development."^Footnote11

While some colleges and universities run their own formal programs, mentoring can be encouraged and promoted less formally.^Footnote12 Educating the team about the value of mentoring, explaining the different types of mentoring relationships (traditional, informal, group, and peer), and providing basic guidelines can help get mentoring relationships off the ground.^Footnote13

Several organizations, including EDUCAUSE, NERCOMP, and Vantage Technology Consulting Group, offer mentoring programs that are low-cost or free for members (or offer scholarships).^Footnote14

Look for Free Professional Development Opportunities

Many higher education associations (for example, EDUCAUSE, Internet2, NACUBO, and OLC) provide free professional development opportunities, including webinars, podcasts, articles, reports, and community group meetings. Volunteering for committees, boards, or other community roles is another way to enhance leadership skills and build experience. While most in-person events require significant financial investment, EDUCAUSE and similar organizations offer scholarships or work-study programs to provide financial assistance.^Footnote15

Tap into Online Training

For self-paced, on-demand training, LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, edX, and Udemy offer free or low-cost online courses that can be incorporated into professional development plans. Many of these websites offer free or highly discounted plans for higher education institutions. (LinkedIn Learning pro tip: Many local libraries have a subscription available for patrons to use from home.)

Leverage Vendor Connections

Many major companies, such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon (AWS), Salesforce, and SANS Institute, offer free, hands-on training and resources to help IT professionals level up their skills. Enhancing knowledge of specific products can not only help staff be more efficient and effective in day-to-day work, but it can also help them stay up to date on industry advancements.

Sustaining Professional Development Through Leadership

IT leaders who integrate professional development strategies into annual planning, budgeting, and staff development discussions demonstrate a level of care and attention that team members value. At a time when many higher education IT professionals feel overwhelmed by competing demands and information overload, the examples provided in this article can serve as a starting point for identifying cost-effective opportunities. By embracing these strategies, higher education IT teams can learn new skills, strengthen existing ones, and continue to grow and thrive in their careers.

Notes

1. Aaron Basko, "The Case for Requiring Professional Development,"The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 31, 2022; Mark McCormack, "Professional Development Needs," in The IT Leadership Workforce in Higher Education, 2024, (EDUCAUSE, March 2024).Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.↩
2. "Five Ways to Increase Employee Knowledge and Skills," Baylor University Human Resources.Jump back to footnote 2 in the text.↩
3. Mark McCormack, "Work Satisfaction and Well-Being," in The IT Leadership Workforce in Higher Education, 2024 (EDUCAUSE, March 2024).Jump back to footnote 3 in the text.↩
4. Cathy Bates,"The 25% Plan," Vantage Technology Consulting Group, January 11, 2025.Jump back to footnote 4 in the text.↩
5. "Performance Development in a Remote or Hybrid Workplace," MIT Human Resources, October 20, 2025.Jump back to footnote 5 in the text.↩
6. For an example of visuals, see "How U-M's AI Services Are Making a Difference in the Classroom," Indiana University Bloomington Libraries, accessed October 20, 2025.Jump back to footnote 6 in the text.↩
7. Harvard Summer School, "Why Celebrating Small Wins Matters," Harvard Summer School (blog), May 30, 2024.Jump back to footnote 7 in the text.↩
8. UW Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, "The Advantages and Values of Digital Badges for Learners and Employers," University of Wisconsin-Madison, accessed October 20, 2025.Jump back to footnote 8 in the text.↩
9. Division of Information Technology, "May Gritty Award Winners: The High Performance Computing Team," University of Maryland, Baltimore County.Jump back to footnote 9 in the text.↩
10. For examples of leadership development programs, see the University of Hawai’i’s Emerging Leaders Program, Virginia Tech's Leadership Development programs, and the University of California's UC Tech Digital Risk Leadership Program.Jump back to footnote 10 in the text.↩
11. Joseph Galanek and Shana Campbell, "Benefits from Mentoring: Having a 'Safe Space," in Mentoring in Higher Education IT, 2019, (EDUCAUSE, August 2019). Jump back to footnote 11 in the text.↩
12. For example, see FAS Mentoring Program, Faculty of Arts & Sciences Human Resources Department, Harvard University.Jump back to footnote 12 in the text.↩
13. Joseph Galanek and Shana Campbell, "Types of Mentoring: Pick the One That Works for You," in Mentoring in Higher Education IT, 2019, (EDUCAUSE, August 2019).Jump back to footnote 13 in the text.↩
14. The Next Leadership Fellowship program, administered by Bowdoin College and supported by several higher education IT organizations and institutions, provides a year-long mentoring program for aspiring higher education IT leaders.Jump back to footnote 14 in the text.↩
15. "Scholarships Program," EDUCAUSE, accessed October 20, 2025.Jump back to footnote 15 in the text.↩

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Valerie Vogel is Senior Strategic Consultant at Vantage Technology Consulting Group.

Cynthia Golden is Executive Strategic Consultant at Vantage Technology Consulting Group.