Program Overview 2024-2028

Advancing Women in IT Leadership [new] – This program leverages the wealth of experience of NWACC Council representatives to promote the advancement of women in IT by increasing opportunities and creating a pipeline for women in IT leadership positions across the Pacific Northwest and beyond.  It is a first step towards making IT leadership positions more accessible to all underrepresented groups. The program includes both in-person and online meetings for women in NWACC member IT organizations. The CIO Council committee for this program includes Andrea Ballinger (OSU), Dan Ewart (UI), Ginny Tomlinson (CWU), and Val Moreno (Reed).

Affinity Groups [new] – This program fosters “communities of practice” to support inter-institutional communication and collaboration among IT staff in areas that are not well served by other professional organizations. Potential groups include helpdesk/user services, infrastructure and network administration, enterprise technologies, research/HPC technologies, and others. Activities include online guest speakers, panels, and round-tables. In addition to the pre-existing Accessibility Group, this program will spin up 2-4 other affinity groups during the five-year program cycle. The CIO Council Coordinator for the Affinity Program is Brandon Gatke (Pacific U). The CIO Council committee for the Accessibility group includes Russ Poulin (WICHE), Garret Yoshimi (Univ. of Hawai’i), and Tim Goodfellow (GFU).

Cybersecurity [renewed] – This program includes an annual workshop for CISOs and ISOs and periodic online meetings that address both operational and strategic topics. Other activities, such as information sharing about policies and products and collaboration on best practices are also pursued. The CIO Council committee for this program includes Tony Opheim (WSU), Brad Christ (EWU), and Andreas Bohman (UW).

Instructional Technology RoundTable [renewed] – The centerpiece of this program is an annual workshop for instructional technologists, instructional designers, and related staff. Other program components include collaborative project development, periodic summer workshops for faculty and instructional technologists, best practice information sharing, an exemplary practice award, a working group on professional development, and occasional co-authored position papers. The CIO Council committee for this program includes Chuck Lanham (WWU) Tony Alfonso (Evergreen), and Kevin Berg (PLU).

Leadership Development [revised] – The Leadership Development Program (LDP) includes a “cohort” track for ~15 IT staff members, a four-day CIO professional development workshop for CiO Council members, and a new mentorship program for IT staff members, newly appointed CIOs, new members of the NWACC Council, and others. The CIO Council committee for this program includes Bridget Barnes (OHSU), Dan Terrio (Whitman), and Borre Ulrichsen (Gonzaga). Bridget is the point person for the mentorship initiative, Dan for the cohort program, and Borre for the CIO professional development event.

Strategic Issues [revision of Special Topics] – In lieu of the Special Topics program – which focused primarily on operational topics of immediate concern – the Strategic Issues Program concentrates on topics that have long-term, far-reaching impact across our institutions.  The program includes an annual, in-person meeting in late spring as well as periodic online discussions. The CIO Council committee for this program includes Abhijit Pandit (UO), Travis Nation (Seattle Univ.), and Ryan Bass (PSU).