IT budgets are better: signs of recovery in the annual Campus Computing Survey.

Are higher ed IT budgets on the rebound? It seems so. There are glimmers of hope in the 2004 Campus Computing Survey, an annual effort of the Campus Computing Project. Only one-fourth (25 percent) of the 516 colleges and universities participating in the survey had their academic computing budgets cut, down from 41 percent the previous year.

Similarly, only one-fourth were hit with administrative IT budget cuts, compared to one-third, as reported in Last year's report.

"There is recognition in some states that they have to put money back into the budgets," says Kenneth C. Green, founding director of the project, and author of the annual survey that tracks two-year and four-year private and public schools. Green is also a visiting scholar at the Claremont Graduate University's School of Educational Studies.

Overall, almost half of the private colleges and universities participating in the survey say they have more money to spend on academic computing this year. About one-fifth of public IHEs report the same. Green notes another positive budget trend: there are fewer institutions, either 2-year or 4-year, that suffered mid-year IT budget cuts. This year the overall percentage is down to 20 percent, compared to 33 percent Last year.

Administrative IT budgets took less of hit this year, adds Green. Again, only 25 percent of respondents say they have less money to spend on administrative IT, a significantly more hopeful statistic than last year's 42 percent.

Still, Green doesn't want to give the impression that it is entirely easy going for higher ed. The budget reprieve follows several consecutive years of cuts to IT spending, which means that there is a lot of catch-up to do.

CIOs are most concerned about network and data security. Instructional integration and enterprise resource management (ERP) upgrades follow closely as areas of importance. There is more money being spent on these areas. Close to 60 percent of survey respondents have spent more money on network technology this year and close to 40 percent are spending more on ERP systems.

As was true last year, IT directors continue to put "acceptable use" policies in place in the effort to curb illegal music and movie downloads. This year, 76 percent of all colleges and universities report having such policies, up from 66 percent in 2003. This is a clear sign that IHEs are responding to media concerns--and to the Lawsuits filed against students using free P2P services. But Green adds that the emphasis on college transgressors has been overstated. "The media industry and the media devote disproportionate attention to college students as the primary source of digital piracy," he insists. The bulk of P2P users are not on college campuses.

There are more campus portals in place this year, according to the data. Almost two fifths (37 percent) of institutions reported having a working portal as of fall 2004, up from 28 percent last year and only 21 percent two years ago. These are being used to support everything from secure payment transitions, to course registration, to access campus information.

Green adds that respondents have an "affirmative ambivalence" about open source applications. White open source is commonly found in the "back room" campus IT infrastructure, directors still have long-term questions about open source and its ability to completely support complex operations.

For more visit www.campuscomputinbg.net.