title: The role of information and communication technology in community outreach, academic and research collaboration, and education and support services (IT-CARES).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study is to examine the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in enhancing community outreach, academic and research collaboration, and education and support services (IT-CARES) in an academic setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  A survey was deployed to assess the ICT needs in an academic setting. The survey was developed using the Delphi methodology. Questionnaire development was initiated by asking key stakeholders involved in community outreach, academic, research, education, and support to provide feedback on current ICT issues and future recommendations for relevant ICT tools that would be beneficial to them in their job, and to capture current ICT issues. Participants were asked to rate the level of importance of each ICT question on five-point Likert scales.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The survey was sent to 359 participants, including faculty, staff, and students. The total number of respondents was 96, for a 27 percent response rate. The majority of the participants (54.1 percent, n = 46) placed a high importance on learning the available research capabilities of the college. The majority of the participants placed moderate (43.5 percent, n = 37) to high importance (40 percent, n = 34) on having an intranet that could support collaborative grant writing. A majority of the participants attributed high importance to learning to interact with the online learning management system Blackboard. A majority of the participants agreed that social media should being more actively utilized for diverse activities for academic and research purposes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study helped to identify the current needs and challenges faced by professionals and students when interacting with ICT. More research is needed in order to effectively integrate the use of ICT in the field of higher education, especially related to the modern global public health context.
authors.affiliation: Ashish Joshi, MD, PhD, MPH, is an assistant professor in the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, NE.
authors.forename: Ashish
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meza
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Douglas Marcel
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Puricelli Perin
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Trout
authors.forename: Atul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rayamajih
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D000328:Adult; D001292:Attitude to Computers; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003697:Delphi Technique; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008491:Medical Informatics Applications; D009329:Nebraska; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires