In the majority of institutions surveyed, the COO and CIO collaborate as peers, from 56% of the time at community colleges to 77% in larger universities. Is it collaborative? Are they separate parallel tracks that seldom intersect? Or is one person wearing both hats?” “We need the anecdotal experience of working faculty and administrators to find out what the working relationship is between the CIO and COO. “The common question that comes up is: ‘What are our peer institutions doing?’” Eric asked. “Specifically, we wanted to find out the relationship between two top officers ﹘ the COO and Chief Information Officer (CIO).”Įric Fredericksen, Associate Vice President at the University of Rochester, echoed the mindset of many administrators. “This year, for the first time, we asked them how they relate to other senior officers at the institution,” Ron said. Relationships evolveĬonsidering the growing presence of COOs and the potential overlap in duties with IT, what is the relationship between those two senior officer positions? “One of the top duties of the COO is coordination between the academic units,” Ron said. In addition to technical knowledge, COOs need excellent collaboration skills as well. How exactly do COOs help oversee online teaching and learning?Īt least half of all COOs in the study oversees an array of responsibilities including instructional design and course development, quality assurance, LMS support/administration, online budgeting, online policy-making, and student/faculty training. Richard Garrett, Chief Research Officer, Eduventures, National Research Center for College and University Admissions, explains how the relationship between the CIO and COO may be linked with enrollment. “In most cases, this position is situated on the academic side of the house,” Ron explained, although some report to the president of the institution. While only 15% of higher education institutions surveyed had a COO pre-2001, now almost all have one, even if the title varies. More institutions now have a COO than ever before. “We’re quite happy with how the survey has taken hold, ” said Ron Legon, Executive Director Emeritus at Quality Matters.
In its fourth year, CHLOE – an acronym for changing landscapes in online education – gathered feedback from 367 respondents, up from 104 in 2016 ﹘ the largest response yet. The most recent survey from Quality Matters and Eduventures Research of online officers across all sectors of US higher education answers these questions.
Who manages online programs at most universities? What does a chief online officer (COO) do, and how does that overlap with the head of IT? The following session was presented at Educause 2019 by Eric Fredericksen, Associate Vice President, University of Rochester Richard Garrett, Chief Research Officer, Eduventures, National Research Center for College & University Admissions and Ron Legon, Executive Director Emeritus, Quality Matters.