From: technews <technews@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@listserv.ou.edu'" <it-fyi@lists.ou.edu>
Subject: it-fyi: 210 U.S. Colleges Won't Meet Y2K Deadline? (Chron of High
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 10:13:30 -0500
Survey on Y2K Computer Bug Indicates That 210 U.S. Colleges Won't Meet
Deadline
By WILL WEISSERT
An estimated 210 U.S. colleges won't be at all ready for the year-2000
computer bug, and hundreds more that purport to be prepared could still have
problems, according to a Department of Education survey released Wednesday.
The study's results led some of President Clinton's top Y2K advisers to
declare that institutions of higher education are among the nation's
least-prepared places for the turn of the century.
"I see a big problem here, even though we've finally seen progress in this
area," John A. Koskinen, chairman of the President's Council on Year 2000
Conversion, said at a news conference Wednesday. "There are a lot of
institutions that have a lot of work to do, and those institutions who think
they are done need to realize that a lot can go wrong in the last three
months."
The survey relied on voluntary Internet responses received this month from
about 1,300 of the 1,600 universities and technical colleges that had been
selected at random to participate.
The survey found that officials at 61 per cent of the colleges believe their
critical computer systems were ready for the new millennium as of October 1.
Ninety-seven per cent of the institutions said their most important systems
would be Y2K-compliant by the end of the year.
But Mr. Koskinen said that leaves 200-plus colleges that will simply not be
ready for the data debacle that the turn of the century may bring.
No information was available on how many colleges have had their
Y2K-compliance independently assessed. Still, Mr. Koskinen said that any
college that claimed to be in the clear but that had not had someone else
test its systems may be fooling itself.
"For the Department of Education, when we called in independent contractors,
each of the three times they found problems with our compliance," he said.
"That could prove very important."
Computing systems that deal with campus infrastructure may be the most
vulnerable, the survey found. Just 86 per cent of those colleges surveyed
were confident earlier this month that all their campus buildings would be
ready. This could result in the failure of such necessities as heating,
electrical, and communications systems.
Colleges were much more confident about their central administration
systems, which handle payroll, finance, and other data; 96 per cent of the
institutions said those areas would be Y2K-compliant by the end of the year.
Ninety-five per cent of the institutions said their student-services
divisions -- which oversee financial aid and food services, among other
things -- would enter the new millennium smoothly.
Just 88 per cent of the colleges said they would have contingency plans in
place to deal with a possible failure of their computer systems.
Greg Woods, chief operating officer of the Department of Education's Office
of Student Financial Assistance, faulted college presidents for failing to
emphasize Y2K-compliance.
"This simply has to be priority one for a university's top administrator,"
he said. "It's just too important to get accomplished by those not at the
top." He added that the Education Department mailed thousands of letters to
college presidents last summer, warning of the millennium bug's potential
havoc.
"We have a contingency plan ready that will help to award the money we
already know these schools are going to need if they can't communicate their
financial-aid needs to us themselves," he said. "But there will be a delay
there, and time is going to matter to the students that need that money."
Mr. Woods said the year-2000 bug would not cause financial-aid or admissions
records to be erased, but could make it more difficult for computer systems
to communicate their data to one another. Further, he noted, January 1 falls
on a Saturday.
"There will be some time there to sort through any problems that arise, and
we will be helping colleges use that time," he said. "This is a race, and
we're heading to the end, but even when we get there we aren't there all the
way yet."
_________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1999 by The Chronicle of Higher Education