CIO Partners Retained by the University of Vermont to Find Chief Information Officer

August 5, 2024 – The University of Vermont (UVM) recently called in CIO Partners to lead in its search for a chief information officer. Executive director Barry Cressley is leading assignment. Reporting to the president, the CIO is the lead executive responsible for information technology across the institution. The expectation is that the CIO will partner with the president and become fully integrated into the senior leadership team, demonstrating credibility and integrity and contributing to university efforts broadly as a subject matter expert in information technology.
The CIO is responsible for the vision and long-term planning for information technology consistent with the mission and goals of the university and works with senior leaders, deans, faculty, and staff to maintain and grow a highly responsive and service-oriented IT environment. The CIO sets and implements the strategy to meet the university’s varied IT needs through principled and transparent prioritization, sound security and compliance practices, and effective collaboration.
The CIO will recruit, mentor, motivate and retain a diverse and effective team of highly qualified IT leaders and staff; foster a supportive, equitable and inclusive workplace that offers career growth; assess the current structure and staff to identify gaps and/or areas of improvement; direct ETS in accordance with project priorities, budgetary objectives and human resources policies, establishing follow through on short- and long-term objectives for IT services.
CIO Partners notes that candidates should have a bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree in computer science, information technology, business administration, or related field, strongly preferred. They should have 10+ years of experience in information technology, including management experience and experience planning and implementing technology initiatives, preferably in a university or other large, complex organization. Candidates must also have experience in strategic planning, budget and management; demonstrated financial savvy and effective stewardship of resources.
Those applying should have a strong understanding of the cybersecurity threat landscape; regulatory and privacy as well as risk management experience. They must have experience in large-scale project management, technology acquisition, and in negotiating with major vendors and suppliers (e.g., Ellucian, Brightspace, Oracle, Microsoft, Internet2, and telecom suppliers).
Founded in 1791, the University of Vermont is a top-100 research university. The school has an enrollment of 12,000 students, including more than 10,000 undergraduates and over 1,900 graduate students. The university is home to seven undergraduate schools and colleges, an honors college, a graduate college, a medical school and a division of continuing and distance education. UVM attracts a faculty that has steadily built its research enterprise, growing sponsored research from $65 million in 1999 to over $138 million in 2016. This summer, UVM’s foundation announced that it had exceeded its $500 million comprehensive campaign goal one year ahead of schedule. The market value of the university’s pooled endowment is $531 million.
Marietta, GA-based CIO Partners is focused on technology leadership searches across all industries and corporate sizes, from start-ups to Fortune 100 organizations. Founded in 2001, the firm specializes in and emphasizes that it understands the uniqueness of the top technology roles.
Related: CIO Partners Recruits Portfolio President and CIO for AccelerEd
As president and managing partner of CIO Partners, Joe Gross leads the firm and is responsible for the strategic implementation and execution of recruitment best practices for the firm’s client partners. Under his stewardship, CIO Partners has been recognized by Forbes as the top executive search firm with a 100 percent niche in technology leadership engagements and ranked by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as a Best Place to Work. Previously, Mr. Gross served as COO for the firm while managing, improving, and scaling all company operations.
Just Released: 2024 Corporate Culture Report
As leaders recognize the critical role of culture in organizational success, building sustainable cultural change for engagement, performance, and growth is now essential. Emphasizing psychological safety allows employees to express ideas, take risks, and voice concerns, driving innovation and engagement.
Hunt Scanlon Media’s 2024 Corporate Culture Report shows how a strong, cohesive culture transforms organizations. By prioritizing cultural synergies and shared values, companies can attract and retain top talent while fostering innovation. Download now!
With over 13 years of recruiting experience, Mr. Cressley is responsible for identifying IT leadership talent both locally and nationally. He built his reputation in the technology community by working with some of the top technologists in the Atlanta area, including .NET, Java, Scala at both the development and architect levels as well as a wide array of cloud based projects ranging from DevOps to cloud architects (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud).
Past Search
CIO Partners recently placed Ashish Patel as portfolio president and chief information officer for UMGC Ventures’ AccelerEd. A seasoned technology executive, Mr. Patel brings more than 20 years of experience in IT services, consulting, and E-commerce operations to AccelerEd.
As portfolio president and CIO, Mr. Patel leads the IT strategy and oversees the teams that modernize global enterprise applications and provide IT managed services for the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) and other prominent partner institutions. Building on AccelerEd’s history of innovation, his current knowledge and future vision of information technology advances the company’s mission of improving the student experience around the globe. He will report to the CEO of UMGC Ventures.
Related: CIO Partners Seeks Chief Information Officer for Northeastern University
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media