University Business - September 2012 - (Page 72)

ChaNgINg faCe Of the CIO integrative role.” That integration, say chief information officers, makes “soft” skills (communication, teamwork, adaptability) that much more important. Technology’s reach into virtually every corner of campus means that those responsible for making it work need to be versatile, collegial employees capable of proactive interaction. “When I first started, a lot of times I was just looking at their skill level,” Conley says of prospective hires. “Now I find it’s really important to make sure they can communicate, that they understand. Not that they have to have an education background or worked at colleges before, but that they understand that education is very different from business and industry.” The biggest change in management for the CIO, according to AmRhein, is in the area of client services. “That person has to have high-level interpersonal skills,” he says. At the same time, “it’s a bit of a balance. In client services you need to have the interpersonal skills but also enough of a level of technological ability to understand the problem and at least describe it.” “There are sections of it where the solitary work, the very technical individual work, is true,” he adds. “But for it to be successful today, there has to be that interpersonal interaction. Units that don’t provide that usually find themselves very reactive to problems that are going on.” time soon. When asked what comes next for CIOs, many foresee a continuation of the evolution of recent years. “The other leadership members, especially the presidents, are going to become much more reliant on CIOs to help drive the future,” Hartford predicts. “They’re going to worry less about operations and more on how do many of them. Conley says it’ll be critical to assess each advance not according to its novelty or coolness factor but to whether it can be smoothly integrated into campus operations. “My job is not to protect my department; it’s to protect the college,” she says. “We’re trying to meet a need. That is how I approach what I do. It’s not technol- the MakINg SeNSe Of the 2012 CaMpuS CIO “how can we use technology more effectively?” “What’s the view like from 30,000 feet?” “Where will today’s technology leads take us tomorrow?” “how can I help you support your mobile devices?” we become more strategic and more agile.” Lawson, citing technology’s increasing pervasiveness, notes that he and his peers will need to keep up with rapid advances and determine whether and how to apply them. “The technology will continue to be significantly more a part of what we do. The whole idea of wearable computers and virtual glasses is just going to continue to become more a part of the tools we use. So the CIO will need to make sure those tools are used in the institution in a manner that does help to differentiate either the instruction we give our students or the experience they have in general with the institution.” It’s tempting to be wowed by the newest shiny object, or the latest next best thing. And the future seems certain to bring forth ogy for technology’s sake. It’s not ‘let’s go to the cloud because everyone is going to the cloud.’ It’s ‘what need does this meet?’ ” Just how far out technology changes can be envisioned is a matter of debate, of course. In the short term, Lawson says, effective CIOs will grow ever more important to their colleges and universities, finding ways to apply technology effectively and use it to better the schools’ interaction with students, “whether that’s on a physical campus or a virtual campus.” But, he adds, “does that just continue to increase over time? I don’t think my crystal ball is good enough to see out that far.” Thomas W. Durso is a freelance writer and associate vice president for college relations and marketing at Albright College (Pa.). It’s Not Over The concerns voiced by CIOs reflect those enumerated in a recent Educause study, “The 2012 Top Ten IT Issues in Higher Education.” Among the issues raised in the study were transforming the institution’s business with technology; integrating information technology into institutional decision-making; improving the institution’s operational efficiency through information technology; supporting the trends toward IT consumerization and bringyour-own device; and updating IT professionals’ skills and roles to accommodate emerging technologies and changing IT management and service delivery models. These issues seem unlikely to fade any- 72 | September 2012 universitybusiness.com http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - September 2012

University Business - September 2012
Contents
Editor’s Note
College Index
Ad Index
Behind the News
Viewpoint
Independent Outlook
Financial Aid
Virtual Viewbooks: Ready? Or Not?
Technology Changes Everything
Connecting Learners, On Campus and Off
The Changing Face of the CIO
Efficiency Greats
The Administrator's Bookshelf
Oceans of Data
Education Innovators
Internet Technology
End Note

University Business - September 2012