Syracuse University names Paul B. Gandel G’86 as CIO and vice president for information technology

Syracuse University names Paul B. Gandel G’86 as CIO and vice president for information technologySeptember 10, 2004Judy Holmesjlholmes@syr.edu

Paul B. Gandel G’86, vice provost for information services and dean of university libraries at the University of Rhode Island, has been named Syracuse University’s vice president for information technology and chief information officer (CIO). Gandel, who has been at the University of Rhode Island since 1997, will assume his new position Nov. 1.

Gandel will be SU’s senior administrator responsible for campus-wide information systems. He will manage the University’s tactical and strategic information technology responses to changing campus needs. Gandel has also been appointed to the faculty of the School of Information Studies, where he earned a Ph.D. in information transfer in 1986.

“Paul is the right person at the right time for SU,” says Deborah Freund, vice chancellor and provost. “With his return to his alma mater, we will have a CIO who is nationally recognized and highly respected. I know everyone will enjoy working with him and benefit from his expertise.”

At the University of Rhode Island, Gandel was responsible for all information technology and information services, including library services, computer services, voice and data networking, instructional technology services, distance learning technologies and institutional research. He also held the rank of full professor in the university’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science.

Gandel has extensive experience in developing, implementing and managing major computing infrastructure upgrades at both the University of Rhode Island and Ohio University, where he served as associate provost for information and instructional technology from 1995-97.

At the University of Rhode Island, Gandel developed and managed a $29 million capital project to upgrade technology infrastructure, including an improved network backbone, rewiring of all university buildings and the introduction of wireless technology. In addition, he developed a sustainable maintenance plan that ensured the effective management and maintenance of the network. At Ohio University, he launched a similar major networking initiative, which resulted in all offices, classrooms, labs and residence halls being fully networked within three years. He also has experience implementing enterprise-wide administrative information systems such as PeopleSoft.

In addition to the networking initiative at Ohio University, Gandel led a major university-wide partnership to support technology-based innovations in learning. The initiative included all academic units and university libraries, all five regional campuses and independent study and lifelong learning programs.

Gandel is a pioneer in using electronic portfolios to measure students’ learning experiences and progress. He is one of the founding members of the Open Source Portfolio Initiative (OSPI), along with colleagues from the Universities of Delaware, Indiana, Michigan and Minnesota; the California State University System; and the Rsmart Group. The organization’s goal is to create an open-source, vendor-independent, electronic portfolio system that will be capable of supporting a wide range of instructional approaches and be portable from one institution to another.

Previously, Gandel has managed several information and technology organizations, including libraries, public radio and television. He was the senior director of academic computing at the University of North Texas and supervisor of the Computing Technology Group at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, N.J. He has also been an adjunct faculty member at the School of Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas; and the School of Communications, Information and Library Science at Rutgers University. He was also an instructor in SU’s School of Information Studies.

Gandel has presented and published on the management of information systems, library administration and services, software engineering and the visualization of information. He is EDUCAUSE Review’s E-Content editor and has served on a number of EDUCAUSE national committees. He also leads the New Directors Workshop at the Seminars on Academic Computing (SAC). He served as chair of SAC’s Executive Board from 2000-02.

He founded and is a member of the board of the Ocean State Higher Education Economic Development and Administrative Network (OSHEAN) and he serves on the board of the Rhode Island Higher Education Library Information Network (HELIN). He has secured more than $1.9 million in grants from such funding agencies as the National Science Foundation, the Ohio Board of Regents, CISCO Corporation and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation.