Dive Brief:

• A study of college and university digital content management practices found schools are doing little more than publishing content, missing opportunities to deliver experiences and better engage students.
• Campus Technology reports the study, commissioned by five companies interested in higher ed digital business opportunities, found many schools overwhelmed by basic demands of maintaining the institution's web presence with little bandwidth to shift from content publishing to digital storytelling.
• Report authors expect many colleges and universities will not be motivated to improve their digital content until they see negative consequences in student enrollment, but researchers say that will leave them playing catch up.

Dive Insight:

Campus IT departments are strapped with a growing workload and a competitive market from which to hire.

Higher education institutions cannot pay the salaries the corporate world offers and, because of it, hiring concerns have remained at or near the top of CIO issues lists for several years. Some schools, however, are carving out the budget to innovate. They are improving websites, content management platforms, and online education offerings. As the nontraditional student population continues to grow and prospective students want more flexibility, turning to online and hybrid programs, these are the schools that will get ahead.

Already nearly 75% of students have at least one "nontraditional" characteristic, according to the latest NCES data. Serving them, along with a younger generation raised with new technologies, will take digital prowess.