Top of Mind with Tambellini Group

For long-term success, higher education leaders can’t treat capital campaigns as standalone fundraising drives. They need connected, data-led strategies that align advancement, finance, and academic priorities. In this episode, Salesforce’s Chris Clark and Tambellini’s Novita Rogers show how AI, structured data, and strong governance turn one-off asks into personalized engagement that drives long-...

The pace of mergers and acquisitions has rapidly accelerated in higher education in recent years as institutions adapt to a changing market. But what happens behind the scenes when two institutions decide to join forces? Northeastern University's CIO, Cole Camplese knows firsthand from his experience building a unified technology operation for his institution’s recent partnership with Mills C...

When is the right time for an IT leader to move on to a new role at a new institution? How much should location matter versus potential for career growth? Aisha Jackson answers these questions and shares insights from her experience navigating the first year as a new technology leader since joining the University of California, Santa Cruz as Vice Chancellor of Information Technology in August 2022...

As the Director of Enterprise Software Systems at Montgomery County Community College in Pennsylvania, Mary Beaver is a paragon of success in building and retaining a high-performing IT team. In fact, the CRM system she and her team of MCCC alumni built won Tambellini Group’s 2023 Innovative Technology Team Award.  Listen in as Mary takes us behind the scenes and shares how IT mentoring and studen...

A CIO with academic technology expertise is a rare yet valuable asset to any institution. With a PhD in instructional design, Dr. Patricia Kahn, CIO at College of Staten Island-CUNY, is one of those IT unicorns.  In our latest Top of Mind podcast, she shares her method for collaborating with leadership peers in vetting and choosing the right mix of academic technology tools to ensure flexibility i...

While there isn’t one single definition of digital accessibility that applies to all higher education institutions, there are guiding principles that all should follow. Our Top of Mind guest this month, Brian Fodrey, Carnegie Mellon University’s Assistant Vice President of Business Innovation, shares the guidelines and steps his institution followed in creating their Digital Accessibility Office.

It’s no secret that the adoption of AI tools in higher education is growing by the day, and ChatGPT is leading the pack. Our Top of Mind guest this month, Dr. Lin Lin Lipsmeyer, Chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning at the Simmons School of Education and Human Development at Southern Methodist University, gives us a thorough overview of the broad spectrum of views and opinions about Cha...

Vicki Tambellini, President and CEO of Tambellini Group, kicks off the new year with her annual take on the top technology trends for 2022, along with her predictions of the drivers that will have the biggest impact on the higher education market in 2023. Listen in for Vicki’s insights on how factors including budget pressures and IT hiring staffing shortages will affect institutions going forward...

Baylor College of Medicine’s Human Genome Sequencing Center is at the forefront of leveraging scientific research for the cloud, and self-taught Cloud Engineer Noora Siddiqui is largely responsible for leading this progress. Noora joins the Top of Mind family this month to share her insights on how cloud migration is revolutionizing precision medicine, including the ability to calculate individual...

To realize the benefits of hyperautomation, the University of South Florida (USF) identified three crucial factors for success: an agile mindset, investing with the right partners, and a willingness to experiment with new technologies. Alice Wei, Assistant Vice President of Digital Transformation and Innovation at USF, joins the Top of Mind family this month to share how she spearheaded USF’s inno...

Oral Roberts University (ORU) has one technological focus: to be the best campus for 21st-century students. Why? Because the student is worth it. Michael Mathews, CIO and Vice President of Global Learning and Innovation at ORU, joins the October episode of Tambellini Group’s Top of Mind podcast series to share how he made his dreams for the future of higher education come to life on campus. From a...

How does your institution measure intention? In the September installment of Tambellini Group’s Top of Mind podcast series, Sharon Pitt, CIO and Vice President of Information Technology at the University of Delaware (UD), joins the conversation to offer listeners a glimpse into the intentions behind UD’s growing digital transformation strategy. Sharon highlights UD’s innovative shared services eff...

How does your institution define digital trust? In the August installment of Tambellini Group’s Top of Mind podcast series, Dr. Donna Kidwell, CISO and Chief Digital Trust Officer at Arizona State University (ASU), joins the conversation to offer listeners a glimpse into what digital trust looks like on ASU’s campus. Outside of simply defining the concept, Dr. Kidwell explains the power behind hav...

For this month’s episode, Kathy Lueckeman joins the Top of Mind family. A tech leader within her own right, Kathy most recently served as chief strategy officer at Olivet Nazarene University (ONU). After completely transforming ONU into a modern campus, Kathy is here to give an inside scoop about the cultivation and success of that project, the relationship between digital transformation, enrollme...

What does a Chief Transformation Officer do? This leadership position can take on many forms depending on the institution, but one thing is for sure: it is never strictly about “technology.” In this Top of Mind episode, Kristophyre McCall, chief transformation officer for University of Maryland Global Campus, sits down with us to talk about his experience during his rookie year as UMGC’s first lea...

Blockchain technology (blockchain) has a growing influence on higher ed. An institution that is well on its way to becoming the first blockchain university and knows this better than any other is Maryville University. In part two of this Top of Mind episode, Dr. Feng Hou, chief digital evangelist for Maryville University and visionary leader and advocate for the adoption of blockchain, completely...

Blockchain technology (blockchain) has a growing influence on higher education. An institution that is well on its way to becoming the first blockchain university and knows this better than any other is Maryville University. In this Top of Mind episode, Dr. Feng Hou, chief digital evangelist for Maryville University and visionary leader and advocate for the adoption of blockchain, completely immer...

Is a transcript the best way to truly reflect a student's academic learning experience? Temple University’s registrar Bhavesh Bambhrolia believes that while the traditional transcript is safe and secure, it is limiting in communicating a student's growth and development from a cumulative experience. In this Top of Mind episode, Bambhrolia gives listeners a glimpse into an emerging genera...

Vicki Tambellini, President and CEO of Tambellini Group kicks off this year’s Top of Mind podcast series. The current state of higher education, although hard to generalize, is very much institution-dependent. However, one universal fact that rings true is that institutions are working on a smarter, not faster, approach. Listen in as Vicki shares what she expects in the coming year and evaluates w...

Jazz musician and CIO for the Georgia Tech Foundation, Dwight Dozier, joins the Top of Mind podcast family this month to discuss creativity in leadership. Describing his role as more relational than transactional, Dwight, whose focus is on donor and alumni engagement, emphasizes relationships, staying connected with students beyond graduation, and recognizing that the philanthropic efforts of alum...

"Whether it's at NASA or a university system level job, a CIO wants to be able to expand the scope of our technology and systems to impact the largest number of people." In this month's Top of Mind Podcast, host Elizabeth Farrell is joined by the Vice President of Information Technology Services and Chief Information Officer at Washington State University, Dr. Sasi Pillay, to d...

It is no argument that modernizing at any institution is a learning curve. In this month's Top of Mind podcast episode: "From Butler to Enabler: How IT Services Empower Teaching and Learning," Alison Robinson, associate vice president and deputy CIO of the Division of Information and Technology Services at California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo, joins host, Elizabet...

The definition of student experience is an ever-changing one. As technology advances, students’ expectations shift to newly introduced possibilities. Inevitably, this affects student experience. However, what’s important to consider is whether implementing a solution just because it’s available is worthwhile to your institution. In this episode, new show host Elizabeth Farrell talks to Dr. Melissa...

Just like on-campus students, remote learners expect a quality student experience from their higher ed institution. Providing a quality experience coincides with modernizing and simplifying virtual services, yet the work toward this can not be done until institutions understand what problems they are solving. In this episode, Katelyn Ilkani talks with Darcy Van Patten, Chief Technology Officer at...

The COVID-19 Pandemic expedited the timeline for technological modernizations at many institutions. As the fall semester approaches, a new normal is expected. Institutions are reflecting on what they learned and deciding which new adopted practices to continue. In this episode, Katelyn Ilkani talks with Jason Parkhill, Interim Chief Information Officer at Colby College. Jason shares how the pandem...