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Drexel University

Location: PhiladelphiaPA 19104 Document ID: A9285-49Y9 Posted on: 2015-07-1707/17/2015 Job Type: Regular

Job Schedule:Full-time
Will pay relocation expenses
Minimum Education: Bachelors2015-08-16
 

Vice President and CIO

 

VP FOR INFORMATION RESOURCES AND TECHNOLOGY/CIO

DREXEL UNIVERSITY

Philadelphia, PA

I. Background

Drexel University, a comprehensive, global research university ranked among the nation’s top 100, seeks an experienced and dynamic leader to serve as the Vice President for Information Resources and Technology (IRT) and CIO. Drexel is an innovative research university that has as its mission: to serve its students and society through outstanding academics, innovative technology, and experiential learning.

The VP/CIO has the opportunity to make technology an integral and inseparable component of Drexel’s success. He or she will work with key stakeholders to establish an information and communications technology strategy to facilitate an outstanding student experience, enable online and hybrid learning and foster research and innovation. The VP/CIO will strengthen central and distributed IT units’ abilities to support common needs efficiently and sustain the differentiation required to support diverse faculty and student needs.

The VP/CIO will report to the Executive Vice President, Treasurer and CFO and serve as a member of the President’s Cabinet.

The VP/CIO will have the opportunity to shape an information technology vision to support and extend the impact of the University’s strategies. The VP/CIO will partner across the institution to further important goals including improving student success, expanding research activity, delivering more efficient and effective services, and effectively leveraging the University’s information assets.

About Drexel

Drexel is one of Philadelphia's top 10 employers, and a major engine for economic development in the region. Drexel has committed to being the nation’s most civically engaged university, with community partnerships integrated into every aspect of service and academics.

With approximately 26,000 students, Drexel is one of America's 15 largest private universities. Drexel has built its global reputation on core achievements that include:

  • Leadership in experiential learning through Drexel Co-op,
  • A history of academic technology firsts,
  • Recognition as a model of best practices in translational, use-inspired research,
  • Three Philadelphia campuses and other regional sites,

 

  • The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, the nation’s oldest major natural science museum and research organization,
  • International research partnerships including China and Israel, and
  • Drexel Online, one of the oldest and most successful providers of online degree programs.

II. IT Role at Drexel

The VP/CIO will be directly responsible for managing an operating budget of approximately $18 million, annual capital budgets and 127 employees within IRT. The VP/CIO collaborates with and influences more than 140 additional technology staff in administrative units and colleges. In particular, the VP/CIO will work closely with the CIO of Drexel’s College of Medicine to integrate IT services and implement practices to enhance information security and privacy.

IT at Drexel includes a robust network to enable teaching and research and a mature suite of enterprise applications including Ellucian Banner, Blackboard Learn, Slate, and Blackboard Analytics.  Drexel’s academic technologists support an expanding number of hybrid courses and partner with Drexel University Online to support over 100 online programs and 8,000 students, requiring 24/7 globally available services. In collaboration with Drexel’s researchers, IRT offers access to high performance computing capabilities. The Drexel Libraries provides discovery and retrieval systems for electronic information resources, development of robust research information management services, and guides the distributed records management program.  

Drexel provides a mix of on-site and cloud services to several smaller institutions including Cabrini College and Medaille College. The VP/CIO is responsible for managing all aspects of these relationships and is the primary liaison to their institutions’ leadership teams. 

 

Strategic Opportunities

The VP/CIO will lead a collaborative process to develop and implement a strategy to use information technology to further University priorities and create or strengthen areas of distinction.  Drexel expects strategies to be creative and forward leaning as well as practical and actionable.   The VP/CIO will embrace and provide effective leadership for a federated set of IT organizations across the University and strike an effective balance between local and university-wide services. This is a particular area of priority as the University implements responsibility center management, a new budget model that places greater control over resources within the colleges.

The ICT vision and strategy must have sufficient depth to meet long-term strategic needs and the agility to seize new opportunities and technological innovation.  Plans and actions must facilitate the priorities that are central to the University’s strategic plan, Transforming the Modern Research University.  The new vice president will work with stakeholders to address several areas:

Expand access and use of accurate, accessible and effective management information and predictive analytics:

Drexel’s senior leaders have identified analytics as a significant priority that is foundational to the successful execution of multiple University strategies.  Meaningful, actionable, near real-time analyses is integral to developing enrollment management and advancement strategies and measuring their success. The ability to capture and analyze more extensive data about student academic achievement and co-curricular engagement is essential to the University’s Student Lifecycle Management initiative.  Financial reporting and improved understanding of revenues and costs at the program and unit level will facilitate the implementation of responsibility center management.

Working with the executive and senior vice presidents, the VP/CIO will identify priorities and direct initiatives to deploy analytics.  He or she will work in close partnership with the Dean of Libraries, the Vice Provost for Institutional Research and others to foster data stewardship and improve data life-cycle management.

Enhance and improve the student experience by supporting the redesign of processes and the integration and simplification of supporting technologies:

The VP/CIO will work with key stakeholders to develop a technology blueprint to support the University’s vision for serving students.  Using technology creatively and effectively to support all aspects of the student experience will enable Drexel to compete for students, increase retention, improve graduation rates and contribute to student success. Drexel students require a seamless service experience as they move between online and in-person programs.  Technologies, including the University’s multiple CRM solutions, must be better integrated to improve operational efficiency and enable personalized services.

Provide technology and support services to enable effective teaching and learning in online, hybrid and technology enhanced courses:

The VP/CIO will be a critical partner in Drexel’s efforts to expand online learning and extend the effective use of technology in teaching and learning.  It is a priority for Drexel to be among the leaders in all forms of technology-supported learning. The University is increasing its already substantial enrollment in online degree and certificate programs. Online and hybrid courses are becoming a regular component of the academic experience for many Drexel students.   The University seeks to extend its support for faculty to explore, evaluate and adopt technologies in the physical and virtual classroom that engage students and improve learning.  The VP/CIO will lead efforts to deploy technology solutions that have the capacity, reliability and availability required to teach and learn online.   

Partner with the research community to expand research computing capabilities including support for high performance computing, research data management, and development of custom applications:

IRT has partnered with faculty to create a shared high performance computing cluster to complement capabilities in the College of Medicine and other computationally intensive research departments.  The University’s needs for advanced research computing services will continue to expand beyond current capabilities as data intensive research grows in scale and becomes relevant to more disciplines. 

The VP/CIO will work with research faculty, deans and the Vice Provost for Research to deploy the research computing support services required to propel Drexel’s growth as a global research institution.  The new vice president will develop appropriate competencies in IRT to extend its support for research computing, especially in disciplines that lack the critical mass of activity to warrant the development of local expertise.  Finally, the VP/CIO will partner with senior leaders to develop funding models to sustain research computing services and enable strategic investment to foster new research programs and provide students with advanced research computing opportunities.

Deliver technologies and services to support efforts to streamline business processes and reduce costs:

The VP/CIO will work with the senior vice presidents to identify and prioritize initiatives to improve administrative efficiency and effectiveness. Drexel recently completed a strategic review of its administrative processes and practices and identified opportunities to reduce costs and improve services through the redesign of processes and organizational restructuring.    IRT should become a more central player in these efforts by initiating and delivering technology solutions more rapidly, increasing its capacity to deliver process automation tools such as workflow and document imaging, and developing deeper levels of expertise in process design and analysis.

The VP/CIO will develop a broad perspective on the University’s administrative technology needs and priorities and proactively identify opportunities to better integrate solutions, improve the use of existing technology and connect initiatives in ways that promote efficiency.  Finally, he or she will make IRT an exemplar by instituting regular reviews of its internal procedures and service delivery processes to improve performance.

Create and sustain effective technology governance and service management practices:

Drexel and the IRT organization enjoy many strengths and successes.  Like all organizations, it will benefit from the fresh perspective that comes with a leadership change.  The new vice president will have a mandate to review and recommend changes to improve IT planning and priority setting.  He or she will have the support of the senior vice presidents and the president to make changes to improve the coordination with and between decentralized IT units in colleges and administrative units. Drexel is a complex institution and leadership is fully supportive of changes that improve service, reduce costs or improve coordination as long as they don’t unnecessarily inhibit innovation.

The VP/CIO will be expected to take a fresh look at the IRT structure and processes, as well. IRT’s service management and user support processes require change to adapt to the increased demand for service and to improve the quality and consistency of customer service.  Increased project activity requires deeper skills in project management and analysis.  Long-range financial plans and staffing models need to be developed to anticipate the impacts of shifts in technology and sourcing strategies (e.g., cloud services).

Enhance information security and privacy and reduce the risk of disaster:

As a research university with an academic medical center, Drexel is highly attuned to information security and privacy risks.  The VP/CIO will work closely with the Chief Privacy Officer, the College of Medicine, Dean of Libraries and other data stewards to devise information security and privacy policies and practices that are risk based and appropriately implemented. 

Drexel also understands that the availability of technology is essential and even short-term interruptions in the availability of services have a meaningful impact on productivity, reputation and financial results.  The VP/CIO will review and provide additional guidance to enhance disaster recovery prevention and preparedness.  He or she will be a key leader in business continuity planning. 

In addition to known priorities, the VP/CIO will continue to look over the horizon to identify opportunities.  A significant priority will be creating organizational agility to respond to new needs and capitalize on technology change.

 

III. Qualifications and Experiences

The successful candidate will have excellent leadership, management, interpersonal and communications skills. The VP/CIO must be comfortable and adept at leading by influence.  The ability to listen, synthesize, mediate, lead, explain and communicate at all levels will be critical. Successful candidates will have a working knowledge of higher education strategic issues or other complex organizations that rely on decentralized governance, culture and structure, and deep knowledge of at least one aspect of information and communications technology.  Experience successfully leading IT planning and priority setting, implementing technology solutions and services, and collaborating with diverse stakeholders is required. Candidates must have at least ten years of progressive leadership responsibility and have held a significant IT management position.  A Bachelor’s degree is also required, as is evidence of continued professional development and service.

An advanced degree in a relevant area and experience at a research university or similar organization are preferable but not required.  At least three years as a senior IT leader (chief information officer or deputy) in a comparable sized organization is strongly preferred. The individual should have a broad perspective on leading IT practices in higher education or other closely related industries that are complex and decentralized. Certifications or significant experience with IT service management (e.g., ITIL), project management and information security practices and methods are preferred. 

It is also preferable that candidates have the following experiences:

  • Establishing effective collaborations with diverse stakeholders to implement information technology strategies, design services and operate jointly led projects;
  • Leading organizational change and improving IT services;
  • Supporting the use of technology in face-to-face, blended, and fully online environments to create distinct educational experiences and improve teaching and learning;
  • Working effectively and comfortably in organizational structures where multiple leaders may jointly oversee initiatives, departments, and services or where primary leadership may come from another unit;
  • Demonstrated experience working with senior leadership stakeholders to identify technology requirements and build support for technology initiatives;
  • Deployed analytics and promoted increasingly broad and sophisticated adoption;
  • Implemented technologies to improve enrollment and enable student success strategies;
  • Working with academic medical centers or similar environments with significant information security and privacy requirements;
  • Operating within established budgets and effectively managing large capital and operating budgets. The individual must be able to manage resources (people, infrastructure, and budgets) in an environment where the demand is greater that the supply;
  • Forming alliances and relationships with national or international professional initiatives that develop standards, best practices, and innovative solutions to challenges in information and communications technologies; and
  • Developing future IT leaders and facilitating the professional development of the IT workforce.

 

 

 

Inquiries and nominations may be directed in confidence to:

Next Generation Executive Search

Phil Goldstein, Managing Partner - philgoldstein@itleadersearch.com

or

Mary Beth Baker, Managing Partner - mbobaker@itleadersearch.com

 

Applications may be submitted via www.drexeljobs.com/applicants/Central?quickFind=79379.

 

 

 

Review of candidates will begin immediately and continue

until a successful candidate is identified.

An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer