The university hired Craig Bantz as its new chief information officer and associate vice president for the Office of Information Technology.
Ohio University will have a new Chief Information Officer on June 22, Senior Associate Vice President for Information Technology Joseph Lalley announced Monday.
Craig Bantz, currently the associate chief information officer at the University of Minnesota, was appointed to the position of associate vice president for the Office of Information Technology and chief information officer at OU.
As chief information officer, Bantz will oversee OU’s Office of Information Technology and work with academic, research and administrative units to “provide an IT environment that makes substantive and measurable contributions to teaching, learning and research on all OHIO campuses,” the news release stated.
The Office of Information Technology has a yearly operating budget of about $23 million and around 195 staff members report to the chief information officer, according to a previous Post report.
Bantz has 13 years of experience in technology, research and management at Minnesota, where he also received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
“I look forward to meeting with individuals across the university in an effort to understand their interests and needs and work together to identify and implement solutions,” Bantz said in the news release.
Bantz will replace Duane Starkey, OU’s interim chief information officer, since mid-2013, who will return to his former role of assistant chief information officer on June 22.
Lalley said he appreciated Starkey’s recent work as interim, citing his leadership in several IT projects, including the upgrade to Blackboard and changes in email systems for students, faculty and staff.
Starkey’s annual salary for the 2014-15 academic year was $127,739, according to a previous Post report.
“I think people will discover that the energy, vision and enthusiasm that Craig Bantz brings to the table will be contagious,” said Shawn Ostermann, a member of the search committee for the job and associate dean for research in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology, in the news release. “I’m looking forward to seeing what the resulting renewed spirit within IT will bring to the entire university community.”
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