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Candidates for WVU's chief information officer position to visit campus in April

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Four candidates for the position of West Virginia University's associate provost for information technology and chief information officer will visit Morgantown beginning Monday April 3.

“We are excited to bring these four impressive candidates to campus,” said Maryanne Reed, dean of the Reed College of Media and chair of the screening committee. “This position generated tremendous interest, resulting in a large and impressive applicant pool, from which these four rose to the top. Each of these individuals has the kind of high level expertise and forward-focused vision that we are looking for in our next APIT/CIO.“

Candidates will spend two days on campus, meeting with members of the University’s administration, faculty and staff. Each candidate will also give a presentation in a session open to the entire campus community.

The four candidates, and the dates of their visits and public presentations, are:

Barbara Dawson (April 3-4)

Dawson is chief of staff for the State of Michigan’s Office of Information Technology, directing activities surrounding Michigan's next generation digital infrastructure. She previously served as the CIO for health information technology at Michigan State University, leading a team of 75 staff and more than 100 students, then as assistant vice president for information technology strategy for MSU. In that capacity she was responsible for strategic planning and initiatives within an operating budget of $6 million. Prior to moving into higher education, Dawson held senior information technology leadership positions in the corporate sector and was a practice leader in consultant firms serving state and local government. She earned a BS in Economics from Michigan State University and an MPA from Western Michigan University.

Dawson’s public presentation will take place at 1:30 p.m., April 3, in the Barnette Room of the Erickson Alumni Center.

Robert Sprinkle (April 10-11)

Sprinkle is the assistant vice president and CIO of the Medical Campus (Medicine, Nursing and Public Health) for Boston University and the director of research computing for all of BU. He oversees 80 staff members and serves as the chair of a university-wide IT leadership committee. He joined BU in 2012 after three years as the senior director for IT research informatics and systems for New York University Langone Medical Center and nearly 10 years at the Moffit Cancer Center in positions of progressively broader IT management. Sprinkle has also held IT positions in private industry. He earned a BA in History and an MS in Information Systems from the University of South Florida.

Sprinkle’s public presentation will take place at 1:30 p.m., April 10, in the Barnette Room of the Erickson Alumni Center.

Karlis Kaugars (April 12-13)

Kaugars is the CIO of the State University of New York at Oneonta and the chair of the SUNY-wide committee of CIOs. Prior to arriving at Oneonta in 2011, he served as the director of IT and the associate director for the Center of Excellence in Computational Science at Western Michigan University for 13 years and as the manager of computer operations for the Department of Computer Science at New Mexico State University for eight years. Kaugars earned his BA in Computer Science from Kalamazoo College and an MS and PhD in Computer Science from New Mexico State University.

Kaugar’s public presentation will take place at 1:30 p.m., April 12, in the Barnette Room of the Erickson Alumni Center.

John Rathje (April 18-19)

Rathje is the associate vice chancellor and CIO for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. As a member of the university's executive team, he is responsible for the strategic direction of technology and for driving innovation. He previously served Central Michigan University in various leadership positions, including as director of application development and support in central IT and as assistant dean of technology for the College of Medicine. In 2014, he was named a leadership institute fellow with the Group on Information Resources of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Prior to entering higher education ITS, Rathje co-founded a software development company and served as president and chief executive officer of a national technology advocacy firm. He began his career in technology as a software engineer. Rathje earned a BS in Physics and an MS in Computer from Central Michigan University.

Rathje’s public presentation will take place at 1:30 p.m., April 18, in the Barnette Room of the Erickson Alumni Center.

The new APIT/CIO will report to Vice Provost John Campbell, who came to WVU as CIO in 2013 and is currently functioning as interim in the role. The university engaged the search firm Next Generation to assist with this search and anticipates a start date for the new CIO in summer 2017.

-WVU-

ac/03/28/17

CONTACT: John Campbell, Vice Provost
304.293.7119; john.campbell@mail.wvu.edu

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