Dear campus community,
I am excited to announce the appointment of Matthew Gunkel to the position of Associate Vice Chancellor/Chief Information Officer (AVC/CIO). His first day will be March 10, 2022.
Matt joins us from the University of Missouri, where he has served as Chief Online Learning and Technology Officer since 2019. There, he led the digital vision, educational technology, learning analytics, and online roadmap for the four campuses that comprise the public university system for the state of Missouri. Under his leadership, the university combined over 300 academic programs into a cohesive online presence, complete with an enhanced technology platform, for Missouri Online.
Among his many other accomplishments, Matt developed a system-wide plan for digital learning, improved classroom infrastructure, saved the university $1.2 million by negotiating technology contracts and partnerships, and raised its U.S. News and World Report’s rankings by improving data alignment, reporting, and key areas of service, such as course quality metrics. Previously, he served for 13 years in a variety of capacities within IT at Indiana University where in his position as Director of Teaching and Learning Technology, he oversaw critical IT operations related to cloud, accessibility, Canvas, and analytics.
As our new CIO, Matt will oversee a period of significant change and growth. Chancellor Wilcox and I recently approved a permanent $8 million increase in the operating budget for ITS. This recurring investment will enable his office to support strategic priorities and strengthen the ITS team with the addition of approximately 25 new positions and to implement and make a substantial upgrade to our network infrastructure.
I want to express my gratitude to Dr. Josh Bright for his strong leadership and gracious service in his role as the Interim AVC/CIO over the past year. Josh will continue in the interim position until Matt begins at UCR.
I would also like to thank the members of the search committee for their active engagement in helping to select our new AVC/CIO:
Christopher Lynch, Dean, Bourns College of Engineering (Chair)
Philip Brisk, Vice Provost for Administrative Resolution and Professor of Computer Science and Engineering
Emily D Engelschall, Interim Associate Vice Chancellor, Enrollment Services
Jeremy Fisher, Associate Director, Systems Engineering and Operations
Scott Heil, Associate Vice Chancellor, Institutional Research
Kim King, Associate Director, Service Management
Steven Mandeville-Gamble, University Librarian
Laura Manor, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, Research and Economic Development
Kelly McGrail, Director of Digital Marketing and Analytics
Bahram Mobasher, Professor of Physics and Astronomy
Sureyya Tuncel, Manager, Identity Management
Please join me in thanking Josh for his service and in extending a warm welcome to Matt.