UNC, NCSU find need for CIOs - Triangle Business Journal:

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So why the rush for new IT talen at the top ofarea universities? Roby n Render, vice president of informatiomn resources and CIO of UNC Generalk Administration, says the role of the CIO has become more significant to universities. "As technology is becoming more pervasive and more criticakl to the operations ofan institution, the positiobn is becoming more important," says Render. "And so what you're seeinf is people re-evaluating, analyzing and determining what kind of person they need for todag andthe future. And that may be a differenft kind of person than what they needed five yeareago ... In most cases, this is the first or seconed CIO that the institution hasever had.
" Rended says one reason area universities are hirinfg CIOs is because of the high turnover rate in the "I think the campus expectationw are maturing, and that is one she says. NCSU's top IT executive, who will also carrt the title of vice chancellor of information will direct boththe school's academic and administrativde IT activities. The CIO will report to the chancellor and work closely with the vice chancelloe of financeand business, and the provost. He or she will have a 300-person staff and a budget of morethan $40 million.
"Wew are one of the few research-extensivwe universities in the country that probably doesn't have a chief informationm officer," says Charles Leffler, vice chancellor of finance and "I think it's partly because we'vd had very talented people leading the academic and the administrative sides of the IT realm. But what I thin we began to think about in recent years ... is the need to more closely integratew and coordinate what is happening in the academi and research arena with that which is happening Thenew hire's duties will includ e establishing a strategic operational technology establishing advisory and governing structures to ensure efficien interactions between constituents and customers, integratinv the academic and administrative systems, working with outside technolog y partners, overseeing the selection and development of universith software and hardware, and establishing the criteria for measuringb and assessing the performance of the IT Accordi ng to Leffler, the new CIO will not directly interacyt with vendors but will be involved in strategixc IT decisions and have advisory groupsx that meet with NCSU has hired a search firm to help with findinf the right candidate and expects to make an announcement by Render says CIO salariexs start in the $100,000 range and go highee for senior-level administrative positions, depending on the "Our institutions are so different," she "They are geographically dispersed, so there are different employment markets within the areas that they Roughly 10 of the 16 North Carolinwa public universities give their CIOs full responsibilitgy over all of the IT campus functions whilde six of these universitiesx limit the responsibilities of their top IT In December, UNC hired Larry an associate vice president for technology integration and CIO at Florida State University, as its new CIO.
Conrad, a graduatd of Iowa State University, spent 10 years in Arizonw before movingto Florida. He will assume his new positionjon Feb. 1. Conrad replaces the previousz CIOwho retired; UNC hired its first CIO 10 yeara ago. Conrad, who will report to the executivew vice chancellorand provost, will have oversight responsibilitty for a $60 million budgef and direct about 450 employees. "So many of the thingds we do everyday - every minute of the day - dependf very heavily on having a reliable IT operation," says Bernadette executive vice chancellor and provost at UNC.
"Anfd then many of the things depend on having an IT operation that can also responds to the creativity that is neededf for a particular research prograjm or a particular kind ofclassroom instruction." Conracd will also take on responsibility for directingy UNC's enterprise resource planning system - IT that supportws admissions, student aid, student finances, personnel and human resourcesw functions on campus. "The whole infrastructure that underlies those activities is being says Gray-Little. "The new director of IT will have a role in helpin g to guidethat process.
" Much like at UNC and the position of chief information officer at Duke Universityh is a relatively new position. Tracy Futheuy became the university's first vice president for information technologhy and CIO in February 2002 when Duke reorganizecd itsIT structure. Futhey is placed in charger of Duke's central IT organization, the office of informationm technology and is also responsible for coordinating all IT dutie s amongher colleagues. In Duke appointed John associate professor and associate chair of electrical and computed engineeringat Duke, as the school's associate chief information officer. In his new position, Boardd assists Futhey in her roleas CIO.
"Amonh my duties are facilitating cooperationh between the various school IT organization s and the centralIT organization, the offic e of information and says Board. "I also have a role in our technicalkarchitecture group, which tries to be more forward thinking about the technologiesa that Duke might be using in the futuree ... I have some specific responsibilitiea to document our progress inachieving Duke'a strategic plan and Duke's overall campus strategic