Opus Partners Recruits CIO for University of Richmond
August 11, 2016 – Executive recruiting firm Opus Partners has recruited Keith W. McIntosh as chief information officer at the University of Richmond. Craig Smith, a founding partner of Opus Partners, led the search.
Mr. McIntosh brings to Richmond more than 30 years of experience in information technology services within higher education and the military. He previously served as CIO and associate vice president, digital instruction and information services, at Ithaca College. There, he provided strategic leadership for the college’s academic and administrative information technology services, which includes oversight of relevant facilities, responsibility for IT security and risk management, support for the college’s hardware and software and management of a staff of 74. He also developed the college’s first-ever IT strategic plan, helped launch the development of a new IT governance process and focused the efforts of his division on improved service to the campus community.
Mr. McIntosh also worked in the Pima County Community College system in Tucson, AZ, one of the largest multi-campus, multi-site community colleges in the nation. He began his tenure as director of technical services before being promoted to vice chancellor for information technology and CIO, where he provided strategic leadership for an IT department that supported 69,000 students, and 1,300 faculty and staff annually. Prior to his work in higher education, Mr. McIntosh held various progressive leadership and management positions within IT during a distinguished 25-year career in the United States Air Force.
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“Mac brings to his new role a distinguished record of agile and effective IT leadership and a reputation as a collaborative partner who has worked closely and effectively with academic and administrative departments to evaluate, plan and direct enterprise-wide IT operations,” said University of Richmond president Ronald A. Crutcher. “I very much look forward to the contribution that Mac will make at Richmond leading our exceptional information services team and partnering with colleagues across campus, including the provost and her academic computing team.”
“I am honored and humbled to have been named the University’s next chief information officer and thank Dr. Crutcher for extending to me this remarkable opportunity,” said Mr. McIntosh. “I look forward to serving the university community, collaborating with colleagues to build on the University of Richmond’s stellar legacy in the use of technology, and using my skills and experience to build an exceptional future for the information services team and the university.”
The University of Richmond is a private, nonsectarian, liberal arts college located on the border of the city of Richmond and Henrico County, VA. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential university with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School of Arts and Sciences, the E. Claiborne Robins School of Business, the Jepson School of Leadership Studies, the University of Richmond School of Law and the School of Professional & Continuing Studies.
Opus Partners conducts senior level searches nationally and internationally for clients in higher education, healthcare, and institutional investment management. Its clients include universities, colleges, academic medical centers, foundations, and research institutes.
Hunting down chief information officers has become something of a widening specialty for Opus. The firm recently completed CIO searches for the University of Chicago and Williams College, and it is currently leading the CIO search for Stony Brook University.
CIO hiring and recruiting information technology teams are both on the rise. Nearly a quarter (22 percent) of U.S. CIOs plan to expand their IT teams, according to a 2015 Robert Half Technology ‘IT Hiring Forecast Trend Report.’ It represents a three-point rise from the beginning of last year and an eight percentage point jump from one year ago.
The survey found that recruiting within the function remains challenging: 59 percent of CIOs said that it is ‘somewhat’ or ‘very challenging’ to find skilled IT professionals, while 69 percent of respondents said they are taking action to address recruiting challenges for IT staff.
“Organizations are getting the green light on more technology projects, prompting them to make strategic hires,” said John Reed, senior executive director of Robert Half Technology. “However, technology leaders continue to struggle to find highly skilled talent in a market with low unemployment. They seek IT professionals with specialized skills, especially in the areas of cloud computing, data analytics, mobile strategies and cybersecurity.”
Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media
