A strategic planning model for meeting the information technology needs in a school of social work.
Item
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Title
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A strategic planning model for meeting the information technology needs in a school of social work.
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Identifier
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AAI9521251
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identifier
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9521251
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Creator
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Bloch, Judith Ellen.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Irwin Epstein
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Date
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1995
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Social Work | Education, Higher | Education, Technology of | Education, Administration | Information Science
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Abstract
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This project addresses the information technology needs of a school of social work by offering a strategic plan with a broad conceptual framework designed to bring the school's constituents into the Information Age. Strategic planning research methodology was the central practice/research intervention used in the study. In-depth interviews were paired with self-administered surveys to elicit data on the school's use of computers, the attitude of consumers toward computers and their future projected needs.;Interviews with students, staff and faculty generated several themes regarding strategic planning for computers: frustration with current computers, the need to computerize school information, obstacles to computerization, the process nature of computerization, planning for consumers with disabilities and the need for education and technical support.;Most respondents accept the inevitability of computerization in schools of social work and in social work education. Eighty-nine percent of faculty and over 90% of masters and doctoral students want to know more about how computers can help them as social workers. Doctoral students demonstrated unanimous support for strategic planning as an overall approach to managing sociotechnical change, faculty 57% and masters students 98%. Ninety percent of faculty indicated a desire for training and technical support, 90% of doctoral students and 81% of masters students. Respondents cited the need to obtain a computer consultant and to develop finance strategies to support computerization.;Guidelines were generated for managing the strategic planning process including establishment of a strategic planning committee, insuring broad representation of the school's constituents, maintaining reasonable expectations for technology, and conducting a needs assessment as part of the process. This model encourages user participation, draws on the knowledge of resident experts or technical "gurus" and encourages planners to investigate sites where computerization has been successfully implemented.;A quality improvement paradigm was introduced as an overarching framework for the planning endeavor. It requires the active and ongoing participation of carefully chosen and committed team members to conduct information gathering, decision making, plan development, evaluation of the planning process, and re-design of the strategic plan as necessary.;Data from the study indicate constituents nearly unanimously accept the use of technology in social work teaching and administration. Future studies will determine whether a trend toward accepting computers has begun and if resistance to computerization has become outdated.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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D.S.W.
