Elevating IT to Transform Teaching and Learning at Columbia-Greene Community College

For years, Columbia-Greene Community College, serving a modest population of more than 100,000 people across rural Columbia and Greene counties in upstate New York, grappled with limited financial resources and a lack of advanced IT skillsets. With about a third of its operating support coming from county sponsors, 14% from the State of New York, and the rest from tuition, fundraising, and other sources, financial resources were far from abundant. State funding, in particular, had not kept pace with the College’s needs, leaving the institution significantly behind in technological advancements. This financial strain and technical debt were evident when Dr. Carlee Drummer stepped into the presidency and observed that the College was not leveraging technology to its fullest potential, still relying on outdated methods like paper forms for student applications and registration.

Recognizing the urgency of the situation, Columbia-Greene partnered with CampusWorks to uncover the scope of the challenges and chart a path forward. CampusWorks led a comprehensive Technology Assessment, to evaluate how the College was using technology to support business processes and advance its strategic goals. CampusWorks’ findings confirmed Dr. Drummer’s observations: the College required immediate access to specialized technical skill sets and an overhaul of its IT operations.

A New Era of Technology-Driven Education

Columbia-Greene’s leadership made a pivotal decision to entrust its IT operations to CampusWorks for five years with the goal of optimizing IT systems, streamlining business processes, and strengthening information security.

CampusWorks provided the leadership of a seasoned higher education CIO as well as IT talent to shore up the skills gaps and initiate strategic improvements across the institution. In the first year alone, the partnership yielded significant improvements:

• A new 24×7 Help Desk provided around-the-clock support to the College’s technology users.
• A new telephone system replaced an outdated one, and the infrastructure upgrades facilitated ubiquitous cell service and Wi-Fi across the campus.
• Classrooms underwent a digital transformation to accommodate new teaching modalities, such as hybrid and high-flex learning.

These early steps towards digital transformation have been instrumental in elevating the teaching and learning experiences for faculty, staff, and students, marking a new era of technology-driven education at Columbia-Greene. 

An Optimistic Future

The partnership between Columbia-Greene Community College and CampusWorks demonstrates the power of strategic partnerships in overcoming resource limitations and skill gaps.   

As the College continues to harness the benefits of its technological advancements, the foundation laid by CampusWorks paves the way for a future where education is accessible, secure, and adaptable to the evolving needs of students and employees.  

Voice of the Client