Lynch Named Colgate’s Chief Information Officer

 

 

On November 2, Provost and Dean of the Faculty Douglas A. Hicks announced the appointment of Kevin Lynch as Chief Information Officer for Colgate Universi-ty. Lynch, currently the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York will assume his post on January 7, 2013, at the beginning of the second academic semester.

Lynch has more than 15 years expe-rience in information technology, data analysis, networking and strategic plan-ning, often working with higher educa-tion institutions and education man-agement, including eight years as the Director of Network Services at Clarkson and two as CIO. He had served over five years in Communications and Technol-ogy for the United States Air Force, dur-ing which he attained to the rank of Cap-tain. In addition, Lynch has presented multiple lectures at national conferences, such as EDUCAUSE and the Northeast Regional Computing Program (NER-COMP), on cyberethics and the advan-tages of courseware, such as Blackboard and Moodle.

The Chief Information Officer supervis-es all of Information Technology Services (ITS) on campus in a variety of tenors, in-cluding courseware, budgeting, the upkeep of the wireless network and strategic plan-ning for the expansion or revision of these areas. Moreover, the CIO serves on Presi-dent Jeffrey Herbst’s advisory committee, the core of administrative and institutional planning, which, according to Associate Dean of the Faculty Nancy Pruitt, who was Chair of the CIO Search Committee, is a critical position for innovation.

“ITS needs to support those [insti-tutional] strategies when technology is part of the solution. As to what changes we are likely to see … the first priority will be to ensure that things just work: the network, email, classroom technol-ogy (although ITS does quite well with this already). After that, Mr. Lynch will be leading an ITS staff dedicated to sup-porting faculty, students and staff in all of our various roles,” Pruitt said.

In effect, the CIO’s role on campus is to ensure the consistency Colgate’s information technology and innovative ways in which this technology could provide a new dimension for education, for how students, teachers and staff interact. Lynch’s appointment comes on the heels of spotty wireless access around campus and the occasional malfunctioning of courseware such as Moodle. Even though ITS already responds to these issues quickly and mostly effectively, Lynch will refine the university’s infrastructure, making it easier to manage these sorts of problems.

Since Lynch has been involved with educational services for most of his career in information technology, Colgate’s ad-ministration is confident that he has not only a deep commitment to bolster tech-nology’s role in student life and faculty interaction but also further its role in the university’s educational mission.

“Mr. Lynch has a real understanding and appreciation for the mission of higher education in general and Colgate in par-ticular. The CIO should never lose sight of that mission, and we are confident that Mr. Lynch will be able to keep our mission front and center as he moves us forward technologically,” Pruitt said.

Furthermore, Hicks stressed that Lynch’s experience will have deep consequences for the university:

“Kevin Lynch is a highly talented leader in technology who will help Colgate to develop our capacities in information technology. This will support our teaching and research missions as well as other parts of campus life, such as business and finance, admissions and communications,” Hicks said.

Contact James Morra at [email protected].