How to measure the ROI of the college website?
Step 1: define strategic goals

In its latest issue Educause Review features an article by Brian L. Hawkins and Diana G. Oblinger that deals with The Myth about Saving Money in IT.

The authors introduce the topic with the following statement:

“Claims that investing in information technology will save money for a college or university have rarely proven true. In fact, realizing the promised dollar savings is so rare in higher education that the credibility of many IT professionals has been jeopardized by making the claim. Not producing promised savings only exacerbates the sense, among many higher education executives, that IT is a “black hole” for institutional funds. Indeed, the truth is that the vast majority of IT investments add cost; they do not generate savings”.

While this article doesn’t address specifically investments related to higher ed websites, it does list a few questions that can also be adapted to set up strategic goals for college/university websites.

• Does the campus have a strategic plan that places [the Website] in the context of what the institution seeks to achieve?
• What outcomes are desired? How can they be measured?
• Is it most important to save money, to increase capacity, or to enhance core functions?
• What is the result of doing nothing?

A website can help higher ed institutions achieve many goals, but these goals should be defined precisely by executives at the strategic level first.