What is "chief information officer"

alt. An executive who is in charge of the technical affairs of a business, notably as head of the information technology department, typically directly under the chief executive officer and/or the board. n. An executive who is in charge of the technical affairs of a business, notably as head of the information technology department, typically directly under the chief executive officer and/or the board.

Chief information officer (CIO), chief digital information officer (CDIO) or information technology (IT) director, is a job title commonly given to the most senior executive in an enterprise responsible for the information technology and computer systems that support enterprise goals. Generally, the CIO reports to the chief executive officer, chief operating officer or chief financial officer. In military organizations, they report to the commanding officer. The Chief Information Officer role was first defined in 1981 by William R. Synnott, former Senior Vice President of the Bank of Boston, and William H. Gruber, former professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

A chief information officer in higher education is the senior executive who is responsible for information and communications technology in the university, college or other higher education institution. The position may not necessarily be called a CIO in some institutions. The CIO title is often coupled with Vice President/Vice Chancellor of information technology, is primarily used at doctoral/research institutions, while the titles of Director or Dean are more common at the other five types of Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education; MA I, MA II, BA Liberal Arts, BA General, and AA. In addition, the CIO title used at different institutions may represent unique positions with differing roles and responsibilities. Ultimately, there is no one definition for a CIO; it has a variety of meanings, functions, areas of purview, reporting structures, and required qualifications. Some traditional executive and administrative positions in higher education, such as a chief financial officer position or chief academic officer/ provost have been in existence for a long time and typically have a definite career path. In contrast, the position of CIO in higher education, which has only been around for about 35 years, has no single career path nor single model to explain what can be expected of CIOs in higher education, which makes it a challenge and an opportunity for those interested in preparing for such a role (Brown, 2009; Cash & Pearlson, 2004; Nelson, 2003). Brian L. Hawkins (2004), former president of Educause concluded:

There is no defined career path for CIOs, nor is there any certification, degree, or even a common body of knowledge that such a ::person should have mastered in order to fulfill this kind of position effectively…finding the right CIO is more about aligning ::personal traits, skills, professional orientation, proven success, and vision with a given campus culture and climate. (p. 100)

That being said, research in this field including recent surveys of technology leaders, CIOs and academic leaders in higher education institutions provides data on the current and expected levels of academic degrees of CIOs and their perceived required skill set. This, in turn, may mean that prospective CIOs who prepare in a manner to meet these perceived expectations in terms of academic degrees and skills may be more likely to be successful in being hired into the position of CIO and succeeding at it. The next two sections explore these two areas, that is, the academic degree preparation and skill set needed for CIOs in higher education.