As a hectic fall semester grinds on at Computing and Media Services, the highest position in the organization has been filled by a Syracuse University alumnus.

Paul Gandel, a 1986 graduate of the School of Information Studies and former vice provost of information services at the University of Rhode Island, was named the new Computer and Media Services chief information officer and vice president for information technology Monday.

As chief information officer, Gandel has oversight of all technology and information needs across campus, including control of the university’s technology budget, said Deborah Nosky, the CMS manager of IT communications and professional development.

Gandel was nominated for the position by a school-wide committee led by Hannah Arterian, dean of the College of Law, Nosky said.

Gandel was hired to fill the position left by former chief information officer, Ben Ware.

‘(Ben Ware) was never really able to devote full time to being chief information officer and Syracuse University wants to be able to have a full time CIO, so Ben went to assume the full-time role of the vice president of research,’ Nosky said.

During his stay at URI, Gandel helped distribute the funds of a $29 million state grant that allowed him to upgrade URI’s network and major systems and rewire the network.

‘Seems like he did a lot of great things for the University of Rhode Island, so hopefully that will continue to make Syracuse better,’ said Kari Scuglik, a sophomore majoring in architecture.

Gandel was also able to increase URI library’s material budget for journals and books by 30 percent, expand the number of electronic journals available, and almost doubled the number of professional librarians, Gandel said.

‘You can’t separate out technology and content anymore and therefore it’s important that we work very, very closely together (with the library) so that we can create a seamless environment for accessing appropriate information,’ Gandel said.

The administration looks forward to working with Gandel, citing his reputation and experience as cause for excitement.

‘(He will bring) experience, knowledge, creativity, a sense of the big and small issues we will be facing in the future that we will need to be ready to tackle, a strong sense of planning and people skills to get the job done,’ said Deborah A. Freund, vice chancellor and provost.

Gandel also plans on working closely with student groups to find out what the campus wants technologically.

‘I would like to be able to make the opportunities available for students to have access to a rich array of technology that will meet their educational goals and objectives,’ Gandel said.

‘My e-mail is pgandel@syr.edu and I’d love to hear from people. I’d like to know what the issues are, what people’s concerns are.’

Students appreciate his openness to suggestion.

‘He wants to hear from people,’ Scuglik said. ‘I think that’s an important process of how you change things and make them better.’

Published on November 1, 2004 at 12:00 pm