Enterprise Content Management Should Be Academic

Abstract

The ‘digital divide’ that was formed by a curriculum that affords no direct exposure to any business-oriented enterprise content management system and the surprising ubiquity and dependency on enterprise content management systems in business provided the motivation to class-test SharePoint as a surrogate for a university-supported course management system.

The classroom test became the basis of a proof-of-concept model for a college-wide document repository that was conceived to manage most of the college’s departmental and committee documents, including those related to AACSB maintenance of accreditation.  The use of a business-tested, enterprise content management system for academic purposes could narrow an academic/industry ‘digital divide’ and may remove an impediment to the adage “practice what you teach.”