A Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste Information Technology and the Future of the Research Universities Daniel Greenstein University of California While it is impossible to predict how research universities will weather the global financial meltdown, one thing is clear. They will look a great deal different coming out of it than they did going in. From reports in the Chronicle and other HE sources, the strongest research universities will manage through 2008/09 on their cash reserves and by implementing the usual round of budget tightening measures. If leading indicators are anything to go by (the chatter amongst Provosts and Deans, the issues being surfaced in crisis management and budget committees) 2009/10 is when things will start to get interesting as Universities are forced to look at the deeper structural changes that may continue to their long-term survival. Those able to make the boldest moves may emerge at the other end of this prolonged recession poised not only to secure for themselves the greatest competitive position in a worldwide market place for higher education - they may also redefine the nature of the research university for the 21st century. This talk looks narrowly at the roles that information technologies may play in the strategies being developed by universities to weather the financial crisis and emerge from it with renewed strength. It will follow the logic of any crisis management committee and look at the opportunities that exist in three areas: * Cutting costs * Raising revenues, and * Changing the educational model