Why bother studying costs and benefits? To support transition from project to core service Need to justify expenditure Demonstrate accountability, management control 12/01/2019

Sources of information: Costs Technology Costing Methodology (TCM) Handbook Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications, 2001 http://www.wiche.edu/telecom/projects/tcm/ The Costs of Networked Learning - Phase 1-2 Sheffield Hallam University, 1999-2001 (for JISC) http://www.shu.ac.uk/schools/cms/research/cnl/ Management Information for Decision Making: Costing Guidelines for Higher Education Institutions KPMG Management Consulting, 1997 (for the Joint Funding Councils) http://www.shefc.ac.uk/content/library/others/costing/contents.htm 12/01/2019

Sources of information: Analysing costs and benefits Evaluation of the Costs and Benefits of IT Usage in a Higher Education Environment University of Strathclyde Insight Initiative, 2001 (for JISC) http://www.wiche.edu/telecom/projects/tcm/ Cost-Benefit Analysis Guide For NIH IT Projects National Institute of Health, Maryland, USA, 1998 http://irm.cit.nih.gov/itmra/cbaguide.html 12/01/2019

Sources of information: Information on specific benefits of MLEs Reports, papers, including: JISC MLE Interoperability studies http://www.jisc.ac.uk/mle/interop/interop-reports.html BECTA MLE Case Studies http://ferl.becta.org.uk/features/mle/casestudies.htm Cost-Effective Uses of Technology in Teaching (CEUTT) http://www.ceutt.org/ US literature on academic "enterprise portals" Interviews with / Surveys of DMU staff and students 12/01/2019

Conclusions No consensus over how to measure costs in HE Staff time is a very significant factor, but it is difficult to arrive at accurate figures “Hidden Costs” and “Costs borne by others” associated with ICT developments Difficult to separate out the costs and benefits of MLE from related activities: VLE, Intranet development, Content Management Systems, etc. Many benefits of MLE are “intangible” rather than “tangible” 12/01/2019

Choices Activity-Based Costing or traditional “Top-down” approach? Full costs or marginal costs? How to treat hidden costs and costs borne by others? Use discounting techniques (e.g. NPV)? Assign numerical values to intangible benefits? 12/01/2019

Choice should reflect the needs and practices of We chose “Top-down” approach Full costs Broad assessment of hidden costs and costs borne by others (but not quantified.) Use discounting techniques not used Did not assign numerical values to intangible benefits Choice should reflect the needs and practices of the Institution. 12/01/2019

Categories of benefit Direct cost savings Savings in staff time Print and distribution costs Savings in staff time easier communication reduce time spent on low-level admin activities less time correcting errors and their effects Qualitative benefits more staff time freed up for teaching and support better information and support for students reduction in non-completion rates flexibility: inter-operability of systems means that will be easier to meet new information requirements, e.g. requirement for Progress Files. 12/01/2019

On-line Student Regulations and Support Information Examples (1) On-line Student Regulations and Support Information Direct cost saving = c£50,000 Plus improved quality and consistency of presentation 12/01/2019

Effect of reduction in non-completion rates Example (2) Effect of reduction in non-completion rates 12/01/2019