The Search Committee for the Chief Information Officer and Vice President (CIO/VP) position hosted an open forum with their first candidate, Director of Business Effectiveness and Digital Initiatives and Strategy at the University of Cambridge, Paul Dampier, August 24^th in Butcher Suite.

The job of the CIO/VP is to be the leader of the Administrative Computing Services, Data Analytics and Financial Reporting, Academic Technologies, Technical Services, Telecommunication Services and User Services, follow the Information Technology (IT) Leadership Agenda, as well as be a member of the President’s Operations Committee.

The IT Leadership Agenda includes developing and implementing online strategies, data driven decision making, scaling research computing capabilities, supporting earlier technology, improving administrative services, and supporting the development of the ITS organization.

Dampier desires to be the next CIO/VP of Pace University because he is looking for new challenges, likes how Pace is focused on the outcome of the students, and how the university has a strong IT organization.

“From what I see Pace has a strong IT organization, which has to be key to the university’s success going forward. So it’s not as though I have to come and sweep away the old, put in the new, and change the organization. It’s about moving the organization forward,” Dampier said.

Should he be hired Dampier plans to bring leadership, stability, and unification to the IT department. He feels the fact that Pace has had three CIOs in the past five years has had damaging effects on the department’s unity. Dampier also plans to increase the skill set of the current IT team.

“[The IT department] cannot continue with the current skills they are using and expect to have long careers. Because a lot of that info structure stuff is being swept up by utility services it’s very important the IT department counterbalances that by creating training and development opportunities for their staff and starts looking to become agile and responsive to the needs of academics and students,” Dampier said.

Almost all of Dampier’s career has been IT related, working multiple jobs including as the Head of Service Delivery for the pharmaceutical company GSK, Technical Director of the Ministry of Defense, and as the Consultant Director for META Group United Kingdom (UK) Limited.

The Cambridge native considers one of his greatest accomplishments putting in the largest fully digital network across the UK for GSK, which provided high-speed connectivity throughout the country.

“In certain circumstances, we had to dig up the highways to lay cables. The project lasted for 12 months and we went from four very slow networks to one high-speed network, and we won some awards for that, both as a team and myself personally,” Dampier said.

Outside of work Dampier enjoys spending time with his family and his collection of vintage cars.

“When I go home I don’t play with computers; I play with my two vintage cars. One is a Model-T Ford, what interested me about that was the innovation that came with trying to produce something that anyone could use and afford. At at the other end of the spectrum is a Rolls Royce, which is supposed to be the best at any cost,” Dampier said.

Should he be hired Dampier doesn’t think that it will take him long to transition from the University of Cambridge. He will need a couple of months to go through the VISA process and find a home in New York.

Participants of the forum felt like Dampier is qualified for the position.

“[Someone with his background] is really what you’re looking for. Someone who’s been around the block, whose had enough experiences where whatever they throw at him he’ll be like ‘Yeah I’ve been there done that’,” Pace’s Resource Centers Program Manager, Gabriel Moreno said.