The University of Central Arkansas has named John A. Gale as its first Chief Technical Officer. The office of CTO will work to set and prioritize technology goals, to establish and enforce technology protocols and to support the university?s strategic plans. Before assuming the role of CTO, Gale has served as the Director of University College at UCA since 2003. Additionally, he was project director for UCA?s upgrade of the campus network, the installation of a campus wireless system, and has served as the director of UCA?s student laptop program. He is also a member of the UCA Faculty EAST Planning Team. Gale has an extensive background in Arkansas higher education where he has served in the role of faculty member, department head and administrator.
According to UCA President Lu Hardin, Gale is important in maintaining the university?s technology edge.?We are aligning campus resources to meet the state?s pressing education and technology needs. Promoting Professor Gale is the most recent step in that process. He understands the inextricable link between technology and the classroom,? Hardin said.
As IBM Project Manager, Gale supervised the conversion to a wireless campus. UCA invested $5-million in network and wireless infrastructure by partnering with IBM which resulted in UCA ranking 42nd in Campus Technology?s recent list of 101 Best Practices.
?We?ve made great strides in building our IT infrastructure. It isn?t perfect but it?s greatly ahead of where we were,? Gale said.
The CTO reports directly to the UCA Provost, Gabriel Esteban. In addition to Gale?s promotion, Esteban has recruited new academic leadership, most recently in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and the College of Education. ?Having new deans in these colleges and creating the CTO position will enable us to expand into some new areas. One of the things we will look at in the near future is whether UCA might have a role to play supporting emerging initiatives in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) Education,? said Esteban.
?We?re interested in developing collaborative projects, whether it?s multidisciplinary or public-private partnerships. The common link in most of these projects is technology,? said Esteban.
