Involving the academic: A test for effective University ITEM systems

ITEM systems in the university sector are large. This means they are often purpose-written for an individual university. These systems have significant investment cost when compared with commercial systems. An interesting issue with such systems is the apparent set of perceived stakeholders when measured by functionality of the working system. Initial case studies of three universities in one country showed that existing administrative systems offered little support for teaching purposes. An extended survey over a number of different countries showed few exceptions, and a test was developed to determine if a university ITEM system included the classroom teaching function as a user requirement. The study found few systems catering for even the most trivial of requirements of teaching.