UB faces an increasingly complex environment in which Web use is dramatically on the increase and information technology is changing equally dramatically. But, Innus said, funding is "not anywhere close" to meeting demand.

He said a study that compared the state of information technology at UB, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Duke University and North Carolina State University showed that UB is "much leaner" than the other three institutions in terms of IT central staff and "extremely lean" in terms of IT administrative staff. UB, he noted, is going to find itself "more challenged as we try to take on new projects."

He said that primarily for financial reasons, UB has put its emphasis on operating as an "early follower," rather than as an institution on the cutting edge.

He noted, however, that funding is not what impacts information technology at UB most negatively. The major problem, he added, is "institutional culture."

To address that problem, an IT Culture Change committee has been formed. "Changing culture means changing times," according to Innus. "We need to work across organizational lines and roles are going to have to be more blended."

Innus said that more than 400 information-technology professionals from across the university have participated in a three-day workshop based on Stephen Covey's "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," as well as other seminars. Those professional-development efforts are having a positive effect, Innus said.

The committee also has developed a survey that will be distributed to all information-technology professionals on campus to gauge their perceptions of the cultural change that is occurring, as well as information-technology planning on campus.

Innus outlined a number of UB's information-technology priorities, which include items such as funding education-technology action-plan requests for things such as distance learning, participation in Internet II, investment in essential infrastructure, support for essential administrative-system development and support for Web-site development.

The university, he added, also has identified as a priority enhancing the student experience by working to increase student access to computing, providing undergraduates with guaranteed access to e-mail, the Internet and most commonly used Microsoft tools.

Other works in progress, Innus said, include upgrading BISON, a re-engineering of administrative processes and information-technology support for enrollment management. Innus noted that the university has begun to develop an all-funds budget to try to get a handle on what is spent on IT from sources that include state-budget funding, research-foundation funding and the student technology fee.

Innus noted that another possible source of support for UB could be a Technology Initiative, similar to the Graduate Education Research Initiative (GRI) launched in 1987. Such an initiative, he added, could provide partnerships between UB and corporations, such as IBM, Sun Microsystems and AT&T.

Noting that such an initiative would "take a lot of time and effort, and involve tremendous culture change," Innus said such partnerships would be "important in the provision of equipment, service and software, more than funding."