Decisions Around Open Source Usage in Higher Education Robert Martens Master of Arts in IT Leadership Decisions Around Open Source Usage in Higher Education Brandon Olson, PhD, PMP Research Advisor Purpose Research, formulate, and present a decision making model for the administrative use of open source software in higher education. This model will incorporate key criteria for successful usage of open source software (OSS) both from the higher education and open source perspectives. HIGHER EDUCATION OPEN SOURCE DECISION MODEL (HEOSDM) Culture Change Often the most important aspect of any implementation of HEOSDM. Kotter’s 8-Step Change Process is a viable model to follow. Can often include IT governance changes. Successful and transformative open source usage requires a compatible culture. Research Questions What are the challenges facing higher education administrative computing? What are the risks and benefits of OSS utilization in higher education? Future Research Opportunities How effective is HEOSDM in driving effective decision making? Which criteria are most important for effective decisions? Is model usefulness affected by institution size? Does HEOSDM work better with specific governance models? Criteria Conclusion Higher education is facing many challenges today as it pertains to administrative computing usage. OSS is a viable option, in many instances, to meet those challenges. HEOSDM helps decision makers to choose correct OSS for implementation on campus. Culture change is almost certainly required. Key Findings Higher education challenges include budgets, changing education modalities, leadership turnover, and student expectations. Open source challenges include licensing confusion, technical challenges, support misunderstandings, and community importance. There are shared challenges as well.