Managing Open Access Labs: 'MacGyver Principle'

摘要

For a variety of reasons, in recent years doing more with less hasrnbecome standard operating practice within IT departments ofrnhigher education. Colleges and Universities, following thernindustry trend to decentralize aspects of enterprise management tornsmaller functional areas within the organization, are moving lessrncentralized enterprise management functions to individualrndepartments. The use of Microsoft's Active Directory structurernwith Organizational Units (OU) and the other object conceptsrntaken from Object-Oriented Programming philosophies hasrnsolidified this push.rnKeeping individual functional areas current with technologyrntrends can be difficult when the central IT organization is stillrnworking in a legacy environment. These areas are relegated tornfinding ways to offer new services without the benefit of the newrntechnologies that make the services possible. For an area like thernOpen Access Lab environment of a university, the staff is oftenrnforced to adopt the "MacGyver Principle:" making somethingrnuseful or functional out of inconspicuous and otherwisernoverlooked elements.rnWhile many in IT would call this ability troubleshooting, thernreference here conveys more than just troubleshooting: itrnillustrates the challenges placed on an Open Access Lab Staffrnwhen the technologies and services modeled after recent marketrntrends are not available yet the faculty, staff and student bodyrnrequest these technologies and services.