Tech Therapy: ‘If We Don’t Pay Attention to IT, We’re Dead in the Water.’

Robert E. Dunker, the president of Western Iowa Tech Community College, joins Warren Arbogast and Scott Carlson on Tech Therapy this week to talk about why presidents should pay attention to technology. The short answer: to keep the college doors open.

“We see our face-to-face interaction going down and our online attendance skyrocketing up,” Mr. Dunker says. “As presidents, if we don’t pay attention to IT and the impact IT has on our institutions, we are going to be dead in the water.”

Mr. Dunker describes how he pays attention to what’s going on at the Detroit Auto Show or the Consumer Electronics Show, and how the college might take advantage of the technologies discussed there. For example, now that people can plug iPods into car stereos, how can colleges let people download lessons so that education can be part of their commutes?

“Heck, I don’t know how to do it,” Mr. Dunker says, “but we better make sure we’re on top of it.”

“A president who says, ‘I don’t know,’” Warren responds. “I love it.”