Information Technology
2025-2026 Program Review

Information Technology at American River College supports the technology that helps students learn, connect, and succeed every day. Our diverse skilled team, consisting of a singular vision of making technology accessible for our ARC community, includes computer technicians, network specialists, web administrators, system administrators, application programmers, audiovisual technicians, and help desk staff who support the college’s computing environment across the main campus and its outreach centers. We provide reliable access to Wi-Fi, classroom and lab technology, online learning systems, student devices, online resources, and secure college applications. Whether you need help logging in, using classroom technology, or accessing digital tools for your courses, IT works behind the scenes and directly with students to make technology dependable, accessible, and easy to use.

Within the Information Technology unit, disproportionately impacted students include students with disabilities served through DSPS, low-income students, first-generation students, students of color, English language learners, and adult or working students who rely heavily on technology-dependent services. Across Help Desk support, classroom and AV technology, web applications, and core infrastructure, these students may experience disproportionate barriers related to accessibility, reliability, system complexity, and device compatibility.

The Information Technology unit will embedded equity, access, and digital parity lens into technology planning and service delivery, prioritizing systems that are accessible, and reliable for all students, especially where technology barriers affect student success.

Improved accessibility and instructional reliability across digital and classroom environments through software and physical accommodations, accessibility audits, and standardized classroom technology that reduces disruptions and supports equitable learning experiences.

Reduced student technology barriers through centralized, responsive support, addressing common access issues such as logins, device compatibility, learning system access, and instructing students on what software tools that they have access to that can disproportionately impact vulnerable student populations.

The IT unit applies an equity-minded approach not only to infrastructure and support, but also to in-house programming and application development, ensuring that custom systems used for planning, reporting, forms, and student services are usable, accessible, and aligned with institutional equity goals. Our in-house programming team upheld these values by developing and iterating on bespoke institutional applications that aim to reduce reliance on stop-gap solutions and improve equitable access to academic success

IT programmers have built and enhanced ubiquitous college-wide tools that improves internal planning and reporting systems, e-forms, accessibility request workflows, and governance repositories that standardize processes, improve transparency, and reduce administrative barriers that can disproportionately impact students and staff. These systems support consistent access to services and decision-making across the institution.

Through programming updates, system integrations, and standardized classroom instructional technology, IT has minimized failures, bolter reliability, and addressed accessibility issues that directly affect student participation, particularly for students a part of the DSPS community and disproportionately impacts students who rely on our systems and are thusly greater impacted by system outages or inaccessible content

The Information Technology unit will continue to apply equity, access, and digital parity lens at the forefront of our unit's mission to technology planning, prioritization, and implementation. This includes proactively identifying technology access gaps, digital disparities that disproportionately affect those members of our community, and ensure that systems are not only available for use with reliable up time but designed with accessibility in mind.

The IT unit will focus on reducing high friction issues such as authentication failures, device and software compatibility problems, and inconsistent system behavior that poses barriers to student success. Support models will prioritize timely resolution and transparency through clear communication for student-facing issues.

The IT unit will address disproportionate impact by prioritizing reliable and standardized classroom and audiovisual technologies, reducing disruptions that can more heavily affect students with limited external academic or technical support. This approach supports ARC’s focus on maximizing “time to teach” and promoting consistent, high-quality instruction across all learning environments.

Eliminating disproportionate impact requires embedding accessibility and universal design principles into core systems, applications, and digital content. The IT unit will collaborate with campus accessibility and instructional partners to ensure that technology platforms support equitable participation for DSPS students and other disproportionately impacted groups.

The IT unit strives to improve infrastructure stability, system performance, and integration, recognizing that outages or degraded performance disproportionately disrupt low-income students, working students, and those dependent on consistent online access. Standardization and lifecycle planning will be used to reduce inequities caused by inconsistent or aging technology.

In alignment with ARC’s integrated planning model, the IT unit will use available data (incident trends, usage patterns, Student Tech Center metrics, and Service Central metrics) to identify where technology barriers disproportionately affect specific student populations. This approach leads to continuous improvement and ensures that equity-focused strategies are aligned with institutional planning and evaluation processes.

Eliminating disproportionate impact requires continued institutional support for applying an equity, access, and digital parity lens to technology planning and prioritization. This includes support for evaluating technology access gaps, usability challenges, and digital disparities that disproportionately affect student populations and ensuring that equity considerations remain embedded in decision-making processes.

To reduce disproportionate impact caused by technology barriers, the IT unit requires sufficient staffing and capacity to provide timely, responsive Help Desk and technical support. High-volume student issues such as authentication failures, device compatibility problems, and access to core systems require consistent staffing levels to prevent delays that disproportionately affect vulnerable student populations.

Ongoing support is needed to ensure that accessibility and universal design principles are consistently applied across systems, applications, and digital environments. This includes institutional support for accessibility standards, coordination with campus accessibility partners, and resources to evaluate and remediate technology that may create barriers for DSPS students and other disproportionately impacted groups.

We need reliable infrastructure, system stability, and timely lifecycle replacement of aging technology. Institutional investment is needed to address infrastructure risks, reduce outages, and standardize systems, recognizing that instability disproportionately disrupts students who rely on consistent online access for coursework and student services.

For AV and Classroom Technology, sustained investment in standardized, reliable instructional technology and preventive maintenance is needed to minimize disruptions that disproportionately affect students who rely on in-class instruction and have fewer alternatives when technology fails.

The IT unit requires access to data, analytics, and institutional research support to better identify where technology-related barriers disproportionately impact specific student populations. This includes support for analyzing incident trends, usage patterns, and system performance data to inform equity-focused improvements and align with ARC’s integrated planning processes.

Eliminating disproportionate impact requires American River College to have reliable, timely access to its own student data. Strengthening campus-level data access directly supports the Technology Master Plan’s focus on Equity, Access, and Digital Parity and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI).

The Information Technology unit continues to experience high demand for student- and employee-facing technology support, while staffing levels and service capacity remain constrained. ARC planning documents note the increasing complexity of technology environments and the need to reassess staffing and service models as part of the 2026–2033 Technology Master Plan. Limited capacity can affect response times and the ability to proactively address technology barriers that impact student success.

Portions of the college’s technology infrastructure require ongoing lifecycle replacement and modernization. The previous Technology Master Plan is outdated and does not fully reflect current post-pandemic technology usage patterns, increasing the risk of service disruptions and deferred maintenance. Addressing infrastructure aging remains a key concern for ensuring reliability and continuity of instructional and student-facing services.

The college’s reliance on digital systems for instruction, communication, and student services has increased significantly, making system availability and performance critical. Recent operational disruptions, such as campus-wide network outages, highlight the importance of contingency planning, redundancy, and infrastructure resilience to minimize impacts on students and faculty.

ARC operates within a hybrid technology support model that includes college-level IT, district-managed systems, and specialized support units. While this model supports a broad range of needs, it can create challenges related to coordination, clarity of ownership, and response workflows, particularly during incidents that cross organizational boundaries.

Service data indicates a sustained volume of student access, authentication, and application-related incidents, including issues with multi-factor authentication, learning management systems, and student self-service tools. These issues place ongoing demand on IT resources and underscore the need for streamlined access models and user-friendly system design.

The IT unit must continue to align its work with ARC’s integrated planning and accreditation cycles, ensuring that technology needs, risks, and resource requirements are clearly documented and communicated through Program Review and Annual Unit Planning. This alignment is essential for securing support and addressing long-term institutional priorities.

While the IT unit has developed and maintained critical college-wide applications and reporting tools, limited capacity and constrained access to underlying student data restrict the ability to enhance systems for equity analysis and early intervention. Without timely, college-level access to student data, programming efforts are often reactive rather than proactive in addressing disproportionate impact.

Across Help Desk, Desktop Support, AV, Systems, and Programming, staffing levels have not kept pace with the scope, scale, and criticality of technology services. This constrains the unit’s capacity to move from reactive support to proactive, equity-focused service delivery.