IT reorganization announced

By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor

Two significant changes in the leadership of UB's information-technology team have prompted a reorganization of the university's IT efforts.

Voldemar Innus, senior associate vice president for university services and UB's chief information officer, will assume responsibility for all of UB's IT efforts with the Dec. 31 resignation of Joseph Tufariello as senior vice provost for educational technology and the planned May 1 retirement of Hinrich Martens, associate vice president for computing and information technology.

Innus will be responsible for the University Libraries and the "full range of IT activities," including educational technology, support of research and UB's administrative systems, including financial, budget, human resources and student systems.

He will become a member of President William R. Greiner's cabinet, joining Provost David Triggle, Senior Vice President Robert J. Wagner and the vice presidents as key advisors to the president. He will report jointly to Triggle and Wagner.

The elevation of the CIO position to cabinet-level status "reflects the growing strategic role of technology in furthering our goals and objectives," according to a joint memorandum issued by Triggle and Wagner.

An internal search will be conducted to fill the vice provost for educational technology position in the wake of Tufariello's resignation. Tufariello, who had served as dean of the former Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics before the unit was merged 18 months ago with the faculties of Social Sciences and Arts and Letters to form the College of Arts and Sciences, has returned to the faculty as a professor in the Department of Chemistry. The new vice provost will report to Innus.

The Educational Technology Center, headed by David Willbern, professor and associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, will continue to report to the vice provost for educational technology. Its role and interactions will remain unchanged.

The senior management staff of CIT-Charles F. Dunn, director of technical services; Susan A. Huston, director of administrative computing services; Richard H. Lesniak, director of academic services, and Mark S. Deuell, associate director of communication engineering and repair services-will report directly to Innus, starting May 1.

In addition, Nancy Kielar, senior staff associate, and Susan Ferry, senior staff assistant, both in the Office of the CIO, will assume additional responsibilities for CIT administration. And Martha Barton, associate vice provost for educational technology, will assume a greater role in IT budgeting and planning.

Over the next several months, Innus will "review the current committee structures and IT planning processes to see what changes need to be made in order to reflect this new organizational structure," according to the memo.

"The changesŠin our IT planning and implementation efforts are only the first in a number of reassessments and realignments of university administrative operations," Wagner and Triggle noted. "We expect to recommend additional administrative changes to position us for the future and respond to the very tight fiscal situation that we face."

Both Tufariello and Martens were instrumental in the university's efforts over the past several years to use IT to enhance its instructional, research and support activities. Among the "significant strides" cited by Wagner and Triggle are Access99, the creation of the Center for Computational Research, the establishment and funding of the computer nodes, the development and expansion of high-technology classrooms, the upgrade of the public computer workstations, the increase in off-campus connectivity and the complete data wiring of both campuses, including the residence halls.