Dartmouth VP, Chief Information Officer

This Featured Gig is close to home—Dartmouth is searching for a vice president and chief information officer. I asked Erin DeSilva, senior associate provost for learning innovation, to answer my questions about the role.

Q: What is the university’s mandate behind this role? How does it help align with and advance the university’s strategic priorities?

A: Dartmouth is seeking a bold and talented technologist, of course. But the mandate behind this position is truly a gifted communicator, who can set and execute a vision that is grounded in reality, from within this technological expertise. This is an opportunity for a leader who is able to align resources behind a strategy for that vision for a strong ITC team. Like many places, Dartmouth has a lot of top technically based priorities that include cybersecurity, research infrastructure, enterprise solutions and, of course, AI strategy.

Our strengths include a talented, user-centered staff, creative and ambitious students, and a faculty of top researchers, all of whom require the resources and infrastructure as we work towards the key priorities of increasing Dartmouth’s global visibility and scholarly impact. Significant investments have already been made in President Sian Beilock’s five areas of focus: innovation and global impact, health and wellness, lifelong Dartmouth, diverse lived experiences, and free expression and environmentally responsible campus and planet. We are seeking a CIO who can leverage technology to meet the teaching, learning and research needs of our community during this exciting time. There are a wealth of opportunities to unlock through high level thought leadership.

The successful candidate will accomplish this by providing operational credibility, building and shoring up systems while championing Dartmouth’s culture of collaboration.

Q: Where does the role sit within the university structure? How will the person in this role engage with other units and leaders across campus? Is the role in-person, hybrid or remote-eligible?

A: Dartmouth’s CIO oversees our information, technology and consulting organization, which reports to the provost. Additionally, Dartmouth has a wealth of IT professionals embedded in our professional schools and administrative departments who work with this team to ensure our mission-critical work is empowered. The successful CIO candidate will be able to translate provost priorities, align with the needs of the other schools and departments on campus, and determine the best recommended central planning steps.

This requires not only working closely with the other information technology departments on campus, which already collaborate incredibly well and will be a huge resource for the new CIO, but also nontechnical leaders in both the academic and administrative departments and divisions. A leader who is invigorated by this type of collaboration and consensus-building, who thrives on leading through dialogue, will find this a rewarding environment.

While there is a lot of flexibility in how day-to-day life is managed, this role is in-person in Hanover, N.H.

Q: What would success look like in one year? Three years? Beyond?

A: Like all technical organizations, Dartmouth is facing immense questions and challenges related to security, AI and other rapidly evolving technologies. While there will be markers around the ability to set and execute strategy in all of these areas, success at one year should also be focused on the vision the CIO is able to set and communicate, the context they’re able to understand through relationship building and their ability to align resources to accomplish a central IT strategy successfully.

In three years, of course, the CIO’s own vision and strategy will be much more prominent and those building blocks during the first year will pay off. A successful CIO at three years will shape governance, advocate on behalf of the campus’s technical needs and align staff with Dartmouth’s priorities to move towards shared goals. A true champion of the collaborative spirit, who can be an effective thought partner for technical and nontechnical leaders, is required as we all continue to adapt to the changing climate.

Q: What kinds of future roles would someone who took this position be prepared for?

A: A Dartmouth CIO could theoretically carry these lessons into any environment: leading the development of our cutting-edge technology, nurturing a collaborative culture of dedicated staff and connecting technical and human resources with critical priorities. But we’re a pretty great place to be, so I can’t imagine anyone would want to leave!