Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric Spina named Christopher Sedore vice president for information technology and chief information officer at Syracuse University Tuesday. Sedore had been serving in the interim position since November 2008.

The former IT vice president and CIO, Paul Gandel, served in the position from 2004 to November 2008, when he stepped down to teach full time. Sedore assumed the interim position the same month.

‘We’re all very excited about him assuming this role. He is someone who in this period as interim CIO has inspired a lot of confidence from people, and we’re excited to see him take this on full time,’ Spina said.

As vice president for information technology, Sedore is in charge of the Information Technology Services department, which provides the campus with network and Internet connectivity, information technology security, telecommunications, and walk-in and over-the-phone service, according to the ITS Web site.

Sedore will also be responsible for looking into the effectiveness of information technology programs at the university, Spina said.

‘I’ve always been an experimenter. Before computers it was electronics and mechanical things,’ Sedore said. ‘Working with technology is a form of creative expression for me.’

One of many issues Sedore said he hopes to tackle is technological sustainability, particularly with regard to computing.

Sedore said computers have extensive environmental effects on the campus because of the electricity they consume. He will be looking into ways to be more sustainable, including programming computers to automatically switch into sleep mode.

‘IT now is so pervasive at the university, and we spend so much money on it, that we really need a CIO who’s going to think strategically for the university about what is the best way to deploy and dispense its resources for both maximum performance, as well as making sure we’re being efficient,’ Spina said.

Prior to becoming VP and CIO, Sedore was primarily responsible for the operation units within the central IT organization. He worked to oversee the networks, MyMail and MySlice. Now he will also have to develop technology direction strategies for the campus.

‘I want to understand what can we do with (IT) to make sure we’re best serving the needs of faculty, staff and students,’ Sedore said.

Before working in the Office of Information Technology and Services, Sedore served as manager of network services at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs from 1994 to 2004. While there, he helped develop open-source operating systems and collaborated with research and education efforts in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Israel, Italy and Peru.

During his 15 years at SU, Sedore said he’s seen technology become more embedded in everyone’s daily lives. Technology in the life of students, he said, is dramatically different from when he started 15 years ago.

‘Students now have expectations for instant communication, wireless and instant access to all their functions,’ he said.

Sedore said he’s excited about moving forward.

‘From a technologist’s perspective, I’d say looking back it’s been great, what we’ve evolved to do with technology,’ he said. ‘I’m optimistic and excited about what we’ll be able to do for the next 15 years.

jmterrus@syr.edu

Published on March 17, 2009 at 12:00 pm