If you're only talking to your IT team or technology partner when a contract renews or something breaks, you're doing it wrong.
Campus technology isn't a "set it and forget it" part of your institution. It's constantly evolving — and now that AI is showing up in the tools faculty, staff and students use every day, it's moving faster than ever. So are the threats that come with it. That's why quarterly IT check-ins are non-negotiable if you want your institution to stay secure, compliant and ready for the next term.
But here's the thing: Most administrators don't know what to ask.
Today, we're giving you a cheat sheet. These are the questions your IT team should be ready to answer every single quarter — without tech-speak or vague promises.
Question 1: What security problems do we need to address?
Every institution has vulnerabilities. The important question is whether your IT team is actively identifying and addressing them before they become costly — or before they put student data at risk.
Ask them:
- Are there systems that need security patches?
- Have there been any unusual login attempts or suspicious activity on staff or student accounts?
- Are there users, devices or departmental systems creating unnecessary risk?
You want specifics, not a generic "we're protected" response.
A good IT team should be able to explain where your biggest risks are today and what's being done about them.
Question 2: Have you tested our backups recently?
A backup is valuable only if it works when you need it.
That sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many institutions assume they're protected simply because backups exist. Then a server fails, ransomware hits during finals, or someone accidentally deletes critical records, and suddenly nobody's sure how quickly the SIS or LMS can be restored.
Ask:
- When was the last full recovery test?
- How long would restoration realistically take?
- Are backups stored securely and separately from our primary systems?
- Are cloud applications — your LMS, SIS and email — included in backup coverage?
You don't want guesses during an outage. You want a process that's already been tested under pressure.
Question 3: Where is our technology slowing us down?
Most productivity issues don't look dramatic enough to trigger an IT emergency. They show up when faculty and staff lose momentum throughout the day.
A staff member waits 15 seconds for the student information system to load dozens of times before lunch. A registration tool freezes halfway through advising. Someone avoids a campus system altogether because it's become unreliable enough to be frustrating.
Ask your IT team:
- Are there recurring performance problems?
- Are we outgrowing our current hardware or software?
- What systems generate the most help-desk tickets and complaints?
- Is there anything we should optimize or replace before fall enrollment?
Technology should help your campus move faster, not train people to tolerate inconvenience.
Question 4: Are we still compliant?
Compliance requirements for higher education keep expanding — FERPA for student records, the GLBA Safeguards Rule for financial aid data, HIPAA for campus health and athletics, PCI-DSS for tuition payments, and growing rules around how institutions use AI and protect research data.
An institution that was compliant last year can easily drift out of alignment without realizing it — and for anything tied to Title IV, that drift can put federal funding at risk.
Ask:
- Have any compliance requirements changed recently?
- Are there gaps in our documentation or policies?
- Do faculty and staff need additional security or privacy training?
- Are there security controls — like MFA and encryption — we should strengthen?
The cost of noncompliance usually extends far beyond fines. It affects audits, federal funding, accreditation and the trust of students and families.
Question 5: What should we be budgeting for next quarter?
Good IT planning eliminates surprises. Your team should be tracking:
- Aging hardware in labs, classrooms and offices
- Expiring warranties and support contracts
- Software and license renewals
- Upcoming infrastructure upgrades before fall term
- Security investments worth planning for
- AI tools — and the training faculty and staff need to use them safely
Quarterly reviews help you make decisions early, spread costs across the fiscal year and avoid emergency purchases that wreck a department budget.
Question 6: Where are we falling behind that's leaving us exposed?
This is the question too many IT teams avoid because it requires thinking strategically, not just technically. Ask them:
- Are there new tools or automations we should consider?
- Are we using AI safely — and are our faculty and staff actually trained to?
- Are we lagging behind peer institutions on security or performance benchmarks?
- What are similar campuses doing that we aren't?
- Have cybersecurity or compliance standards changed in ways that affect us?
Technology moves fast, but cybercriminals move faster — and AI is accelerating both. A good IT partner helps your institution stay ahead of all of it.
You AREN'T Having These Conversations? Red Flag
If your IT team can't answer these questions clearly — or worse, if no one is meeting with leadership quarterly in the first place — your institution might not be getting the support it needs.
You need a partner who isn't just reacting when something breaks but actively working to prevent the break in the first place.
Our job isn't just to fix issues when they happen. It's to help your institution avoid downtime, reduce risk and make smarter technology decisions before problems start costing you money or compliance standing. Part of staying ahead now means making sure faculty and staff are ready to put AI to work safely and confidently.
That's why we created Project NoéMI™, our AI-readiness initiative credentialed with George Mason University, built to help faculty and staff become confident, capable AI users — and the first step is completely free.
Sign up for the free AI Acceleration Platform: https://forms.newpush.com/join-noemi-trainer. Prefer to talk through your campus tech setup first? Book a 15-minute discovery call and we'll show you what's working, what's not and how to fix it before the fall term begins.
