The Strategic Role of the CIO in Today's University

“I get involved in discussions about everything that happens at Hamilton, whether it's a decision on how we might go about attracting new students or how we're distributing financial aid,” Smallen says.

The concept of CIOs and other IT executives serving as strategic partners that help establish–and fulfill–a higher education institution's mission is relatively new. And it's not an idea that's embraced universally.

EDUCAUSE, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit association for the advancement of higher education through the use of information technology, conducted a study of nearly 2,000 IT professionals in 2004. The study reported that only 38.5 percent of the most senior IT leaders report to the CEO, and only 50.6 percent are members of the president's or chancellor's cabinet. Senior IT executives who hold these roles reported greater interaction with senior management, a more prominent voice in IT issues on campus, and more influence in shaping academic and business direction for the institution, according to the report.

“The way I would distinguish a CIO with a strategic role from somebody who is not at the table is that people who are not at the table are given a list of the goals, and asked ‘How can IT help with that?' ” Smallen says. “But they don't tend to be involved with shaping those goals.”

Making the Case

Being a strategic CIO means going beyond technical expertise to truly understand the business case behind every IT project. “I see the people who can not only pick the right technology, but spend money wisely, taking over in more and more places,” says Charlie O'Donnell, vice president and CIO at Dean College in Franklin, Mass.

IT executives who don't have the proverbial “seat at the table” know it, because their institution's strategy may lack critical technical input. “My colleagues who aren't part of the cabinet would say that a lot of things tend to come up in a way that's not always clear and planned,” Hamilton's Smallen says. “More often than they would like, they come in after everything has been decided and it feels like maybe the best decision hasn't been made.”

Joanne Kossuth, CIO at Olin College in Needham, Mass., puts it more bluntly. “If you haven't been in the position to sit at the table when the decision is being made, you're behind the eight ball” when you have to implement.

Fortunately, the benefits of having constant CIO input in strategic decision-making are becoming increasingly clear to many presidents. “This is such a fast-moving field that when you find a CIO who's really articulate and on top of it, who has skills in many areas besides managing IT, it can be of wide benefit to the institution,” says Richard Miller, president of Olin College.

Recent legislative agitation about extending the financial reporting requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to nonprofits almost demands that the CIO take charge of this role, says Brian Hawkins, president of EDUCAUSE. “This is a big thing that's on the horizon, [one] that eats up time and energy, and that doesn't belong to the business officer,” he says. “These problems belong to the CIO, and since [he or she] is critically involved, that's why sitting at the big table makes a difference.”

Half Empty?

If the benefits of having a CIO regularly contribute to strategy and implementation discussions are so tangible, why do only about half of the country's institutes of higher education carve out this role for their senior IT leader?

“Many institutions think about information technology as an expense that has to be controlled rather than as an enabler of institutional aspirations,” says Joan Hinde Stewart, president of Hamilton College. “Similarly, some CIOs still view their contributions to their institution in a narrow sense, regarding themselves more as advocates for the use of technology than as partners in advancing broad institutional goals.”

The idea of the CIO as a strategic partner is spreading, but it will require a paradigm or perception shift in many institutions. “Tech people in general, speaking as one myself, haven't had the reputation of being able to speak clearly about issues,” says Olin's Miller.

Hawkins of EDUCAUSE blames the culture of higher education for the disconnect. “Universities and their administrations don't change very fast,” he says. “But to put it into perspective, 25 years ago, no director of the ‘computer table' would ever sit at the president's table.”

If the realities of your reporting relationships don't give you the ear of the president or the rest of the cabinet, you need to build a strategic presence. Start by educating non-IT executives and administrators about major technology issues facing institutes of higher education. Then demonstrate how IT supports and enhances the mission of the institution across the entire campus on a daily basis.

“You have to work hard so people understand that you get the big picture,” Olin's Kossuth advises. Besides regularly meeting with executives to discuss their IT needs and issues, Kossuth also shares relevant articles–with the important passages highlighted–and writes a monthly report on the activities of the IT department.

To be an effective change agent in higher education today, CIOs have to be proactive, persistent and creative.