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In this post, Voss revisits the history of the role of the CIO, with the earliest CIOs often being a faculty member who happened to like technology and then the wave of general IT workers who moved up the professional ladder to gain the position. Now the CIO has become a profession and because it is often equated with information technology and not academics, Voss argues that there are not enough CIOs-in-training that have academic backgrounds and poses a challenge to find ways to bring more academics into 'the CIO pipeline'. Voss is not explicit in his argument, but he hints as acceptance being the reason. He seems concerned that the CIO position is in danger as new similar positions are being created on the academic side of the house, effectively breaking off pieces of the CIO portfolio and relieving him/her of duties which enabled them to work closely with the president or chief academic officer. Voss argue s-a dn I completely agree - that the CIO must have the ear of the president and be part of the cabinet in order to be most effective.

Weiss' dissertation topic centers on the required skills and knowledge of a higher ed CIO. Her research examines CIO titles, roles, responsibilities, professional development and formal education and training. Her aim was to define a process by which to evaluate the performance and success of a higher ed CIO. While I do not agree that CIOs can be assessed equally, I think the inquiry conducted by Weiss yields a valuable trove of information with which to illustrate the functional responsibilities of a CIO. She looks at the role of CIO from the perspective of campus IT stakeholders and makes an assessment based on their view and opinions of competency in a CIO. This differs from literature on the subject told from the CIO perspective, thus has value in subsequent research on the topic of CIOs.

The authors of this article, all leaders in higher ed IT, argue that a CIO is the center of campus information technology (IT) and therefore a "change agent" that has an opportunity to contribute and have an impact in all areas of campus business. The article has several different topic sections that include quotes and commentary by the authors about being a CIO and working with the CIO. Topics include: leadership qualities of the CIO; operating a service department within the organization; initiating change on campus (ie technology project management); and contributing to the academic mission of the university through partnerships and collaborations with other executives. The web version of the article includes embedded video of the authors describing topics in greater detail. While interesting, the primary value in this article are the topics which are good fodder for one-to-one conversation and inquiry with CIOs. It would be interesting to use the article as a reference and use the topics as the foundation for interview questions. When interviewing more experienced CIO's it would be interesting to find out what has changed over time. Younger CIO perspective may be similar to the author's.

This video archive presents a point/counterpoint debate of the challenges and opportunities afforded a campus CIO. Issues discussed include: the cost of and shrinking budgets for campus IT; service and support for students and faculty users; managing emerging technology, such as Second Life virtual worlds; and professional development for CIOs. Both panelists agree that a CIO needs to be both a strategist and a plumber, but this agreement is not reached until the conclusion. Value in this resource are the issues presented and frank and sometimes humorous discourse between the two CIOs. The debate occurred when campuses were battling increased use of technologies by all stakeholders and decreased budgets due to the global economic crisis. The viewpoints reflect that challenging time and serves as a basis for evaluation of CIO ability to manage effectively in a crisis when technology use cannot be curbed by budget cuts.

Voss reflects on the last five years, since his initial debate with Bradley Wheeler in 2010 about the role of the campus CIO and concludes that the role of the CIO has changed. Not only has the role changed, he explains, but the qualities a CIO must possess have changed as well. As the CIO, in many cases, is becoming a more senior leader, there is also competition on campus as some academic and administrative departments seek to gain control of the IT they use. For example, a VIce Provost of Research Computing or a CHief Digital Officer. Voss argues that breaking off responsibilities and redistributing controls the campus IT portfolio puts the institution in danger. he argues that the campus CIO needs to be actively involved in all segments of campus IT use and needs to be the primary spokesperson reporting to the president and the board on all IT matters to ensure that investments and IT projects are aligned efficiently and effectively.

Historical perspective of the higher ed CIO. Examines the role of the CIO approximately 10 years after the job gained a foothold. Important for context on the topic of the role of the higher ed CIO. Information includes survey data about the responsibilities and job duties of the developing role. Value lies in the literature dating back earlier than the date of this publication for more information and a deeper historical perspective. Of note, even then CIOs were concerned about their place within the organization and their professional growth as well as being able to manage campus IT in the future with considerations for rapid growth and adoption by all campus users and commercialization of computing resources. These concerns are present today, in current literature suggesting that ongoing research and inquiry is necessary to ensure the health of the profession. Additionally, the struggle to maintain adequate footing in both the administrative and the academic side of the college was present then as it is today, suggesting that the CIO is truly unique in comparison to other "C" level positions.

The decline in the percentage of university CIOs who are women may be reversed as more male CIOs retire, a new study says.

In this article, Young compiles an overview of issues that challenge the status of a higher ed CIO. Interestingly, some of the comments on the article argue against the author's perspective, claiming they are seeing expansion in CIO responsibilities on their campuses. The author cautions that information services are viewed as operational and not a strategic driver for business which puts the CIO at risk. I disagree with the author and lean toward agreeing with the comments, however I am open to looking at this article and comparing to other perspectives at the time to try and understand why he chose this argument.

Teresa Rowe, CIO of Oakland University (Rochester, Michigan) explains how she and her team reviewed and applied information in the 2014 EDUCAUSE Top Ten IT Issues report. See also University Technology Services. (n.d.). Value here is a CIO who actively consumes and applies annual reports considered in this research on managing emerging technology. Good candidate for interview for further research.

Not an in-depth article nor a complete survey of issues, but it does give a brief overview of issues a higher education CIO must consider. The article's only strength is that it supports the argument that there needs to be a strategic plan in place for responsive adoption and implementation of emerging technologies. The publication is commendable and the article's publication date sets the stage for reflection on the most recent 5 years of technology issues in higher education.

Garnet, Inc. is an internationally recognized leader in information technology and high tech industries. Their team of researchers and consultants are widely known and accepted for their thought leadership and advice in the private business sector and in higher education. Often, insight from Gartner is considered when making strategic plans for an organization where IT plays an essential role. An annual report on IT issues provides a hit list of topics for CIOs to consider. The Gartner report can be used alongside industry reports from EDUCAUSE and the New Media Consortium to help decision makers understand emerging technology. In this 2014 report, Gartner analysts report on Mobile technology inclusive of both devices and applications (apps); cloud technology, including software as a service (SaaS) models and vendors; and intelligent machines and "the Internet of things", a reference not only to the ubiquitous Internet but also a growing realm of "smart" devices and appliances connected to people via the web.

In the 2014 top-ten list, EDUCAUSE panelists and members identified learning outcomes, IT leadership and staffing models, instruction technologies, IT funding, providing access, and risk management as the primary challenges in higher ed IT. These issues differ greatly from the topics identified by Gartner, Inc in their annual IT issues report for CIOs however because this list was created by EDUCAUSE members - all of whom are higher ed IT professionals - the list provides a context for understanding campus IT responses to trends identified by Gartner.

This case study details the definition of an IT problem (too many projects backlogged) and the realization of a larger systemic problem (adopted technology not meeting needs of users) which led to a deep analysis of campus systems, stakeholders, and IT governance. The case is an example of a user community hungry for technology and hopeful that technology will solve their problems and an IT organization willing to support more technology use. The solution was IT governance, a process to more carefully evaluate user needs and proposed solutions and balance that with existing infrastructure and long term strategic planning. Value here is in the title: not often does higher education admit to failure and this is part of my thesis - that failure must be part of the culture in order to manage emerging technology effectively. CIOs and other campus leaders must be willing to acknowledge that something isn't working, admit failure or defeat, and move on. This must be done quickly - in an agile environment. The value here is that this case study illustrates my theory.

Using Diana Oblinger's framework outlined in her book "Game Changers", university IT staff outlined their 4 year strategic plan. CIO Theresa Rowe welcome comments at rowe@oakland.edu

From the non-academic side of the issues, this article outlines emerging technology trends in business. The article solidifies arguments for technology awareness, adoption, implementation and support in higher education because it supports the theory that technology adoption in education is not the same as educational technology adoption. IT governance is about the technology that higher professionals need to do their jobs - to run the business of higher ed. General project management principles apply, as well as general awareness of consumer technology trends because, after all, higher ed professionals are consumers and the university is a consumer and a B2B partner with vendors and services for mobile tech, cloud technology, hardware and software, and more.