Very few colleges have $30-million sitting around that they can afford to throw away. So when an institution spends that much money trying to replace its student-information system, and doesn’t have much to show for its troubles, it’s bound to turn some heads.
The Maricopa County community colleges, in Arizona, have found that out. The colleges have spent 13 years trying to put a new system in place, and they’ve expended millions upon millions of dollars trying to complete the project, according to The Arizona Republic. But a series of snafus and setbacks have left the upgrade unfinished, and some officials who once worked on the project say campus administrators have ignored warnings that the entire endeavor was doomed.
The complete Republic article is definitely worth a read: It’s an object lesson in how a seemingly harmless IT upgrade can spiral wildly out of control. —Brock Read
