In April, we announced the impending retirement of Robert Cook, our current Chief Information Officer (CIO). An internal review of the current CIO portfolio and its responsibilities, scope, and impact was completed and it was determined that the new CIO will be an academic appointee, working closely with divisions, faculty, staff, and students.

Reporting jointly to the Vice-President, University Operations and the Vice-President & Provost, the CIO is responsible for providing strategic vision and leadership to the University’s use of information technologies for teaching, learning, research, and enabling administrative activities. In collaboration with a staff-appointed Deputy CIO, the CIO is responsible for information technology operations and leads strategic planning for innovative, effective, and efficient use of technology across the University, with primary focus on enterprise-level services and systems that provide value to students, faculty, and staff in all campuses, divisions, and departments.

The CIO partners with academic and administrative leaders to: recommend research-informed policy; champion opportunities for improving processes, and to develop, contract, and implement new systems and applications to support institutional goals. The CIO will move the University into the vanguard of progressive technology use among U of T’s research-intensive peers. Through the Deputy CIO, and in support of various function-owners, the CIO is responsible for the technical operation of most University-wide information systems and infrastructure.

In May, nominations were sought for the Advisory Committee for the academically-appointed CIO. The Committee is representative of the breadth and depth of the impact of this role and we are pleased to announce membership of the Steering Committee as follows:

Scott Mabury, Vice-President, University Operations (Chair)
Larry Alford, Chief Librarian, University of Toronto Libraries
Cristina Amon, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
David Cameron, Dean, Faculty of Arts & Science
Paul Donoghue, Chief Administrative Officer, University of Toronto Mississauga
Wendy Duff, Interim Dean, Faculty of Information
Cathy Eberts, Director, Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration, Office of the Chief Information Officer
Alexandra Gillespie, Chair-Designate, Department of English & Drama, University of Toronto Mississauga
Vivek Goel, Vice-President, Research & Innovation
Steven Green, Director, Online Communications, University of Toronto Communications
Bernie Kraatz, Vice-Principal, Research, University of Toronto Scarborough
Marcus Law, Director, Technology Enabled Learning, Faculty of Medicine
Jan Mahrt-Smith, Associate Professor, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management
Susan McCahan, Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education
Richard Peltier, University Professor, Department of Physics, Faculty of Arts & Science
Jamie Stafford, Chair, Department of Statistical Sciences, Faculty of Arts & Science
Justin Struss, Undergraduate Student, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing

The Advisory Committee welcomes comments about the desired qualities for the next Chief Information Officer, as well as nominations for the position, from interested persons. All communications will be received in confidence and will be anonymized before forwarding to the Advisory Committee for consideration.

Submissions should be sent to:

Elizabeth Cragg
Director, Office of the Vice-President, University Operations
Simcoe Hall, Rm. 114A
elizabeth.cragg@utoronto.ca