POSITION IDENTIFICATION
TITLE Director, Computer Services
CLASSIFICATION NUMBER 1530
GRADE 38
CLASSIFICATION Exempt
IMMEDIATE SUPERVISOR Chief Information Officer
MAJOR ADMINISTRATOR President
GENERAL FUNCTION
The Director of Computer Services plans, organizes, and manages the administrative and technical aspects of the University’s Springfield campus computing resources. The Director is responsible for the management of a wide range of areas of responsibility, such as the enterprise resource planning system, servers, software application development, user training, micro-computer installation and maintenance, user support, the University’s open-access computer labs, and policy development regarding computing services for students, faculty, and staff. Responsibilities include installation, maintenance, monitoring, and planning for associated technology-related infrastructure to support both academic and administrative needs. The Director of Computer Services supervises the departmental staff in their support of the University’s computing environment, develops goals and objectives conducive to ongoing and enhanced capabilities, as assists in the formulation of strategic planning for both short- and long-term activities.
MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE QUALIFICATIONS
Education: A Bachelor's degree is required; a Bachelor’s degree in a computer-related field is preferred.
Experience: A minimum of eight years of work experience managing computing resources including experience with the design and maintenance of a multi-vendor computing environment is required. A minimum of five years of comprehensive experience involving project management, planning, preparing project cost estimates, budget oversight and development, and supervision is required. Experience with data servers and desktop computer applications, including email, internet, word processing, database, and spreadsheets is required. Work experience in a higher education environment is preferred.
Skills: Strong supervisory, project management, administrative, budget management, and technical skills are required. An understanding of Enterprise Resource Planning systems to include systems and operations procedures, data center management, and the provision of end-user support services are required. A demonstrated ability to manage multiple technical projects with a high degree of detail while working with potentially short deadlines is required. An in-depth understanding of current and emerging information technologies is required. Effective interpersonal, customer service, organizational, and team-building skills are required. The ability to maintain confidentiality in regard to information processed, stored, transmitted, or accessed by the systems is required. Excellent verbal and written communication skills and proficiency in writing technical specification documents are required. The ability to work with a variety of constituencies possessing a wide range of technical knowledge is required. The ability to solve management, technical, installation, scheduling, and other related problems is required. The ability to develop knowledge of, respect for, and skills to engage with those of other cultures or backgrounds is required.
Other: The twenty-four hour scope of University operations requires this position to be available evenings, nights, and weekends to respond to calls regarding questions or problems with the University’s computing resources. Occasional travel to remote sites to provide support or engage in professional development opportunities is required.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Assures an effective and complete computing infrastructure is available by planning and coordinating with all University campuses and departments to identify and meet administrative and academic computing needs, investigating technological solutions to assist the University in accomplishing its mission, goals, and objectives, facilitating the design, implementation, and maintenance of various computer-related projects, developing and implementing business, marketing, and disaster recovery and restoration plans, and working with vendors, consultants, and contractors to optimize computing capabilities, develop and adhere to appropriate standards, and perform other related information systems design to best meet the University’s needs.
2. Ensures fiscal responsibility and accountability through coordination and preparation of the annual departmental budget, authorizing the expenditure of funds, and maintaining overall budget control.
3. Participates in the University’s common operation objectives by assisting other departments and individuals with issues, questions, and support of all delivered services while promoting open and viable channels of communication with all constituents by advising and counseling deans, department heads, and senior administrators about computer-related issues and concerns.
4. Manages the University-owned computing systems, other related equipment and services, and recommends the selection and/or modification of hardware and software, such as design changes and upgrades, associated equipment enhancements, and maintenance agreements.
5. Ensures the efficient operation of the Computer Services department by assuring compliance with federal, state, and city laws, rules, regulations, guidelines, policies, and procedures, develops technical Request for Proposal specifications, recommends the selection of vendors, participates in contract negotiations for various computing systems and services, seeks and implements methods for continuous quality improvement in service delivery, oversees the provision of training, support, and guidance to departments and end-users, and monitors the security, access, operations, maintenance, and repair of all computing systems.
6. Ensures appropriate information security measures and components are in place to protect campus computing resources from intrusion attacks.
7. Develops proposals, presentations, plans, and timelines for complex projects and manages priorities, equipment, and staff resources to ensure completion of projects within budgets and timelines.
8. Ensures maximum utilization and efficiency of resources by employing effective monitoring procedures which result in informative reports and consequent system tuning for enhanced performance.
9. Maximizes the integrity of all systems that are the responsibility of the Computer Services department by employing the appropriate debugging techniques in problem determination and taking the proper corrective actions.
10. Ensures the availability of all services offered by managing disaster avoidance and recovery efforts caused by events like power outages, hardware failures, natural disasters, etc.
11. Provides proper scheduling of downtime when upgrading University systems and components and ensures effective communication to the campus community concerning any outages.
12. Ensures operational integrity and continuity of the services delivered by providing leadership in the development of objectives for the unit in order to support academic and administrative systems through reliability, responsiveness, documentation, and use of current software and hardware.
13. Increases departmental effectiveness by assisting with the evaluation of software and hardware products for acquisition and integration into the University’s enterprise architecture.
14. Provides leadership and develops a competent, productive, and effective departmental staff, directly and through delegation, by hiring, training, and supervising all employees of the Computer Services department and coordinates and encourages ongoing professional development of all departmental employees.
15. Ensures the Computer Services department supports the information services needs of the University by preparing long- and short-range goals and objectives and evaluating the department’s performance and progress toward accomplishment of goals and objectives.
16. Contributes to the development of policies and procedures on a broad range of University issues by serving on appropriate committees.
17. Serves as a liaison between local industry and business leaders and the University on matters regarding computing thus enhancing computer-related services to the University by maintaining an open and regular dialogue with recognized leaders within the local and statewide communities.
18. Facilitates a work environment that encourages knowledge of, respect for, and development of skills to engage with those of other cultures or backgrounds.
19. Remains competent and current through self-directed professional reading, developing professional contacts with colleagues, attending professional development training, and attending training and/or courses.
20. Contributes to the overall success of the Computer Services department by participating in the establishment of goals and standards conducive to the successful development of ongoing and enhanced capabilities, assisting in the formulation of strategic planning for both short- and long-term activities, and performing all others duties as assigned by the Chief Information Officer.
SUPERVISION
The Director of Computer Services is supervised by the Chief Information Officer and supervises Computer Services departmental staff members. Job functions are routinely handled independently with a limited amount of supervision.
OFFICE OF HUMAN RESOURCES
REVISED APRIL 2016
