The role of the strategic and adaptive Chief Information Officer in higher education

The study examined the evolving role of Information Technology executives in higher education with the objective of detailing the skills and experiences necessary to be a Chief Information Officer (CIO), the expectations of the leaders in higher education of these individuals and how leaders in higher education view the role of the CIO. The CIO position is no longer highly focused on technical issues, but has influence on the institution's mission critical strategies, which clearly shows that the position has experienced organizational ascension. The study uses a qualitative methodology - phenomenology - to explore the CIO position in higher education. The results are discussed in the following three dimensions: skills & experiences, expectations of the leaders in higher education of the CIOs, and how leaders in higher education view the role of the CIO. The findings indicated the need for CIOs to have multidimensional personalities, diverse work experience, higher education background with the ability to strategically adapt according to the institution's needs. Therefore, the study has implications for universities in the process of hiring a CIO and addresses an important aspect of higher education administration. Most importantly, the Association of American University's (AAU) CIOs followed the traditional path to the position (Birnbaum and Umbach in Review of Higher Education 24(3):203-217, 2001).