This study looks at IT unit readiness to foster and support the functioning of colleges and universities that are challenged by disruption. Responding to a well-documented increase of interest in business continuity and disaster recovery issues among higher education CIOs, ECAR designed the study to inform executives about how institutions approach continuity issues and to identify practices that are associated with good BC outcomes. The study methodology included a literature review; consultation with a select group of CIOs and BC experts for the purpose of identifying and validating research questions; a quantitative survey of IT administrators (mostly CIOs) at 340 higher education institutions; post-survey interviews with 15 executives and IT staff members involved in BC; a quantitative survey of institutional business officers (mostly CBOs/CFOs) at 247 member institutions of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO); and four case studies looking at BC planning and operations Florida State University, New York University, Pace University, UC–Davis, and UCLA.

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