As students return for the fall semester, they may find that more has changed than their class schedules. Beginning in July, the University has announced major changes in administration personnel, particularly in the Office of the Provost.
University Public Relations announced July 18 that Timothy Chester, vice provost for academic administration and chief information officer (CIO), accepted an position as CIO for the University of Georgia, effective Sept. 15. Jonathan See will serve as interim CIO as interviews for Chester’s permanent replacement are underway.
Meanwhile, the University is also working to fill the position of director of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, made vacant by Dr. Chris Collins, who is now a professor at the University of Hawaii. Provost Darryl Tippens said the new director of that office should be announced in a matter of days.
“We have very talented people, both internally and externally, who are applying for the open positions,” Tippens wrote in an email.
Frank R. Seaver Chair of Biology and former Associate Provost for Research Lee Kats was named vice provost for research and strategic initiatives, effective Aug. 1.
The need for the position arose from the growing responsibilities of the Provost’s Office, new commitments from the new Strategic Plan (which was approved last June by the Board of Regents) and President Andrew K. Benton’s desire to increase the prominence of the athletic programs, according to Tippens. (Anyone may access the University’s strategic plan online at www.pepperdine.edu/strategic-plan.)
Athletic Director Steve Potts looks forward to working with Kats on the latter goal, believing Kats is the perfect individual for the job due to his understanding of student athletes, having volunteered with the men’s volleyball team for years.
“I view it as a way for Athletics to connect with the academic program,” Potts said.
“Dr. Kats, who has been serving as the associate provost for research, was an obvious choice to take on these additional assignments,” Tippens wrote.
In addition to his regular duties, Kats will temporarily oversee several areas previously covered by Chester.
“Because these changes have occurred rather rapidly, we are taking our time to settle the precise, permanent job descriptions for each of these positions [vice provost for research and institutional initiatives, vice provost of academic administration and director of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness], as all three are closely related,” Tippens wrote.
Jonathan See, deputy CIO officer and interim CIO since Chester’s departure, believes Chester left him and the Information Technology (IT) division well equipped in his absence.
“For the past 18 months and in order to focus on more important academic matters, he has empowered me (and subsequently Michael Lucas who joined us last December) to run the day-to-day operations of IT,” See wrote in an email. “Hence, because of this arrangement, the transition to my new assignment has been quite smooth.”
Although See indicated that he may be a potential candidate for Chester’s permanent replacement, he said he is focusing on IT’s work, which includes over 40 projects for fiscal year 2012.
This summer, See oversaw several IT projects, including upgrading and improving the number of wireless access points in the Seaver dorms, in order to improve Wi-Fi coverage for better student experience, according to See.
IT also expanded the Internet bandwidth out from the Malibu campus by almost seven times from 45 megabits to 300 megabits.
“Think of this expansion like moving from a typical garden hose to a fire hose,” See wrote. “Nowadays, students are coming to campus with multiple wireless devices in their hands (smartphones, tablets and laptops); the bandwidth expansion is necessary so as to improve the Internet experience.”
See said the IT division has a great momentum, and Chester deserves much of the credit for that.
“Because Dr. Chester supervises several vital areas, including IT, planning, assessment, and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness — and because he has been the chief overseer of our preparation for the next regional WASC) accreditation visit, naturally we were disappointed to lose a man of such breadth, energy, and talent. But the good news is that Dr. Chester built a great organization,” Tippens wrote.
Chester said he looks forward to observing, from afar, Pepperdine’s WASC reaffirmation process.
“The deepest satisfaction I have experienced professionally in my career has been the relationships developed with Dr. Chris Collins and Dr. Joy Asamen as we worked to complete the CPR phase of Pepperdine’s WASC reaffirmation,” Chester wrote in an email. “The one regret that I have is that I will not be on the front lines with Dr. Collins and Dr. Asamen as this important work is completed.”
According to Chester, it was terribly difficult to contemplate leaving, but he and his wife Gail could not pass up the opportunity to return “back to the South to a large, research-oriented flagship institution,” similar to Texas A&M where Chester spent most of his early career.
Chester said he and his wife always knew they would return to the South, and his offer at Georgia would locate the couple less than a day’s drive from their surviving parents.
In a post on his blog (www.accidentalcio.com) dated July 18, Chester discusses how he was approached by the University of Georgia earlier this year, and after a series of conversations over the past three months, he received an invitation to become their CIO. His decision to accept involved matters personal and professional.
“I sat with the provost and president of UGA and told them both that if I left Pepperdine, I would be leaving the best group of direct reports, and indeed, one of the best IT organizations, that I have ever been associated with, and that it would be very difficult to contemplate leaving,” reads an excerpt from Chester’s blog entry.
Having worked closely with Benton in his time at Pepperdine, Chester attended the president’s senior leadership meeting every Friday and weighed in on critical issues facing the University.
“My advice to [Benton] remains this, that the times we find ourselves in are distinctly unique and I do not believe that higher education can go back to the old ways of doing business that were typical prior to the financial crisis of 2008,” Chester wrote. “My best advice to the leadership of this great institution is to confront these challenges boldly.”