Dr. Mordecai Brownlee, Vice President for Student Success at St. Philip’s College, discusses the benefits of experiential learning with host Katelyn Ilkani of The Tambellini Group. Dr. Brownlee shares thoughts on helping college students prepare to enter the workforce, emphasizing the role of experiential learning in career exposure. Topics include student engagement and success, the role of technology in experiential learning, and the importance of transferrable skill sets.
Dec 14, 2020•24 min•Season 3Ep. 32
The Tambellini Group’s Katelyn Ilkani interviews San Cannon, Associate Vice Provost for Data Governance and Chief Data Officer at the University of Rochester. Cannon explains the duties of a Chief Data Officer and why higher education institutions should consider establishing such a position. Topics include technology’s role in data management, the importance of establishing relationships with stakeholders, and resources for those who want to learn more about data governance.
Nov 17, 2020•26 min•Season 3Ep. 31
In conversation with Top of Mind host Katelyn Ilkani, Marilyn Smith, former CIO at George Mason University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, reflects on the changes she has witnessed over her career. Advisor to GMU’s new CIO, Smith shares her advice to listeners who may aspire to lead a higher education IT department. This podcast includes Smith’s approach to building relationships across a university’s diverse population and coming to understand the role of IT as a service.
Oct 19, 2020•24 min•Season 3Ep. 30
Host Katelyn Ilkani talks with our own Vicki Tambellini, President and CEO of The Tambellini Group, about higher education trends she discussed in January 2020’s Top of Mind podcast. Tambellini notes that campus technology priorities are changing, and while some predictions have held true, COVID-10 has affected others. Tambellini talks about the fall semester and what we might expect from institutions and vendors through the end of 2020 and into the beginning of 2021.
Sep 15, 2020•22 min•Season 3Ep. 29
Host Katelyn Ilkani talks with Keith McIntosh, Vice President for Information Service and Chief Information Officer at the University of Richmond about the need for courageous leadership in higher education. From addressing the needs of an increasingly diverse student population, to navigating the challenges of new learning environments created by the pandemic, to creating cultural awareness of the social issues impacting students and faculty, McIntosh explains how he and his team are preparing ...
Aug 12, 2020•42 min•Season 3Ep. 28
Host Katelyn Ilkani talks with Tom Dugas, Assistant Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at Duquesne University, about securing identities. Dugas explains why identity and access management is critical to higher education. He describes the process of building a solid IAM program and choosing a dependable solution. Dugas also discusses how COVID-19 has affected strategies and how IAM may change in the future.
Jul 22, 2020•34 min•Season 3Ep. 27
Host Katelyn Ilkani talks with Helen Patton, Associate Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at The Ohio State University. Patton explains the security challenges Ohio State has faced with staff working remotely. She shares thoughts on the importance of the partnership between security and technology teams within an institution. Hear suggestions for success in smaller security teams, and learn how the current situation may lead to changes in security regulations.
Jun 23, 2020•26 min•Season 3Ep. 26
Ellina Chernobilsky, Caldwell University’s Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, talks about COVID-19’s impact on campus. Classes, services, and decision-making are all online, and the virtual environment presents a “tremendous learning curve” for everyone. Chernobilsky explains how developing new, creative methods to support leadership, faculty, and students “may pave the way to a new normal”: adaptations for grading, instructional design for coming academic terms, and virtual meetings...
May 12, 2020•25 min•Season 3Ep. 25
Tambellini’s Dave Kieffer discusses higher education’s dependency on technology and how past crises and contingency planning for other situations have prepared institutions for meeting the challenges presented by closures due to COVID-19. Kieffer highlights the strengths technology brings to communication during these times, as well as the frustrations employees feel. As staff become accustomed to the new normal, institutions are planning for the next phase of offsite work.
Apr 07, 2020•21 min•Season 3Ep. 24
Tambellini’s Raechelle Clemmons discusses measures higher education institutions should take to prepare for consequences of the novel coronavirus. This podcast focuses on disaster recovery and business continuity and the unique situations in which institutions may find themselves. Colleges and universities may be faced with the need to close, requiring IT departments to adapt the learning environment, accommodate a remote workforce, and address implications for a residential campus.
Mar 06, 2020•24 min•Season 3Ep. 23
West Virginia University’s CISO Alex Jalso shares thoughts on information security and identity management in higher education. Tambellini’s Katelyn Ilkani asks Jalso about his security philosophy and the steps he takes to keep WVU’s systems safe. Jalso describes the process of establishing a new identity and access management (IAM) system and shares lessons learned. Learn about WVU’s future IT plans, which include, among other things, a comprehensive cybersecurity assessment.
Feb 12, 2020•25 min•Season 3Ep. 22
The Tambellini Group’s President and CEO Vicki Tambellini talks about unforeseen higher education trends in 2019, predictions that came true, and what surprised her in 2019. She also makes predictions for higher education technology in 2020.
Jan 14, 2020•16 min•Season 3Ep. 21
The University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, like many other institutions, has seen a decline in enrollment and a rise in competition. Less state funding exacerbates the challenge. In this Top of Mind Podcast episode, hear CIO Jerry Waldron explain how he is challenging past policies and getting back to basics.
Nov 12, 2019•27 min•Season 2Ep. 20
Arizona State University’s human resources department has developed a strategy and adopted tools to attract and retain top talent at one of the largest public universities in the United States. ASU offers employees leadership and workforce development programs and tuition reduction. Additionally, HR recruiters highlight ASU’s innovation and influence and its universal learning program for applicants to complete their education while working.
Oct 01, 2019•27 min•Season 2Ep. 19
By combining career services and advancement, Northampton Community College has created a community of student, alumni, and employers that better facilitates engagement, relationship building, and outreach. Modeling itself after the four-year model, hear from Northampton’s Sharon Beales, Vice President of Institutional Advancement, and Dr. Deb Noble Burak, Associate Vice President and CIO, as they discuss implementation, staffing impacts, and technologies like Razor’s Edge, Handshake, Hubspot, G...
Sep 04, 2019•21 min•Season 2Ep. 18
It’s true that graduating from a university or college is an undeniable accomplishment. But, Oral Roberts University (ORU) has a longer-term vision and plants the seed for success to reach beyond commencement day through its student success program. While working with many stakeholders, ORU’s Dr. Kathaleen Reid-Martinez, Provost, and Mike Mathews, Vice President of Technology and Innovation, are integral to an ecosystem blending technology and innovation to benefit students through their learnin...
Aug 01, 2019•22 min•Season 2Ep. 17
If you happen to be a parent, do you have a screenager or know one? If so, how are you communicating with them and is it effective? Sheenah Hartigan deals with this generation of student (a.k.a. Gen Z or iGeneration) all day long every day at Ocean County College. Students are changing as is technology. After implementing a process to map out student processes, inefficiencies and opportunities, the Director of Enrollment Services came up with a modality to reach them quickly and efficiently. It ...
Jul 09, 2019•19 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Smith College is in the early stages of a multi-year plan to transform its overall technology. Collaboration is more critical than ever in its changing IT environment, according to Samantha Earp, Vice President for IT and CIO. Earp is also the 2019 Tambellini CIO Award winner. This podcast is a great opportunity to hear her words of wisdom as a CIO and understand her perspective on collaboration. She believes at its core is listening and then taking an institutional stance—how to support the ins...
Jun 04, 2019•23 min•Season 2Ep. 15
If you’re busy trying to keep your old legacy system going and are in a perpetual state of adapting to meet your campus’s needs, you’re not alone. Colby College realized two years ago that things had to change. CIO Cindy Mitchell faced it head on. Her strategic plan includes “the things that eat our lunch” as her first course of business. Also, get Mitchell’s insight on changing IT roles, her view of data governance, and her gratitude to those propelling the project towards success.
May 01, 2019•21 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Simon Blackwell didn’t have a long-standing career in academia before he became Chief Transformation Officer of Mount Saint Mary’s University. His background included ecommerce banking, aerospace, and Wall Street. The institution brought him on initially as a consultant, saw promise, and the rest is history. Whether small or large innovative projects, his approach is to first create a framework to instill a common understanding of the transformation, enlist a committee of manageable size with fr...
Apr 02, 2019•26 min•Season 1Ep. 13
There are studies about how humans tend to resist change and their various reasons why. It’s prevalent, but not much comfort to any higher education executive whose mission is to make enhancements for the good of the institution, which undoubtedly require change. Jim La Creta of Brandeis University found himself within that very delicate balance. Hear how he wrestled with a complex core system implementation and its ongoing change management needs. On the flip side, see how he easily won support...
Mar 05, 2019•26 min•Season 2Ep. 12
All companies, not just higher education institutions, are challenged with hiring and retaining top talent. The unemployment rate is hovering around a low four percent. So, not only are colleges and universities facing a tight candidate pool, they are hard pressed to compensate them like the private sector can. Shady Azzam-Gomez, Vice President for Information Technology and CIO at Suffolk County Community College, shares how he overcomes these talent management obstacles in our Top of Mind podc...
Feb 05, 2019•20 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Is artificial intelligence impacting higher education and, if so, how? That questions is answered in depth in this Top of Mind interview with Dr. Curtis Carver, Vice President of IT and CIO at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Carver describes his university’s various technology projects currently underway, how they are lightening workloads for faculty and staff, and giving students a competitive advantage.
Jan 08, 2019•24 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Kelly Walsh became CIO of The College of Westchester in 2008 after a 20-year career in technology. That background made him a natural to explore the relationship between instructional technology and student success. Because he wanted to understand the classroom experience and how the technology could enhance it, Walsh took up teaching, plunged himself into social media, and talked with educators. He created content about learning paired with technology to share with others. Walsh is a writer, th...
Dec 04, 2018•24 min•Season 1Ep. 9
As part of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2018, Tambellini’s Katelyn Ilkani talks with Fred Damiano, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and CIO of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, consortium model for cybersecurity. Damiano discusses how Hobart and William Smith, along with five other institutions, made the strategic decision to jointly work on cybersecurity programs together and to partner with an outside firm for managed security services. He details the steps to launch the cons...
Oct 26, 2018•22 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Sharon Blanton, Vice President and Chief Information Officer of The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), talks with The Tambellini Group’s Katelyn Ilkani about migrating to Oracle Cloud for finance and HCM. Describing this project as a business transformation and technology modernization initiative, Blanton explains TCNJ’s selection process, including the decision to move ERP to the cloud, evaluation of vendor solutions, and method for choosing Huron Consulting Group as an implementation partner. She d...
Oct 26, 2018•25 min•Season 1Ep. 7
To kick off National Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2018, Tambellini’s Katelyn Ilkani talks with Mike Corn, Chief Information Security Officer of University of California San Diego and a Tambellini Group member, about leading cybersecurity efforts within higher education. This discussion covers the importance of security training for campus constituents and ways to deliver training, how to talk to your institution’s leadership about funding cybersecurity initiatives, advice for smaller institutio...
Oct 01, 2018•27 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Tambellini’s Alex Freeman sat down with Dave Weil, Associate Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Ithaca College, a Tambellini Group member, to discuss a workshop that he ran that examined possible future scenarios such as what if Alexa was connected to the ERP system? or what if students and faculty could use their mobile devices to complete all their work?
Sep 04, 2018•12 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Tambellini’s Alex Freeman sat down with Gordon Wishon, recently retired Chief Information Officer at Arizona State University (ASU), to learn more about Wishon’s work over his many years as a CIO in higher education using data for operations and academics. Wishon serves on the Tambellini Executive Advisory Council.
Jul 31, 2018•10 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Tambellini’s Alex Freeman sat down with Bret Ingerman, Vice President for Information Technology at Tallahassee Community College, to discuss enhancing the student experience through technology, replacing Starfish with a homegrown solution, early successes with the Workday Student SIS, and more. Ingerman serves on the Tambellini Executive Advisory Council.
Jul 03, 2018•15 min•Season 1Ep. 3
