51ĀŅĀ×

Vice President for Finance and Administration, Deborah J. Shaffer, announced today that Christopher Ament has been named interim Chief Information Officer at 51ĀŅĀ×. This was precipitated by Craig Bantzā€™s announcement that he would be assuming a different role at the institution. The University will conduct a national search in the fall for the next CIO.

Ament, who most recently served as Assistant CIO for Infrastructure and Operations in the Office of Information Technology, will work with Brad Cohen, Senior Vice Provost for Instructional Innovation, who will assist with this transition as Executive Liaison to the Office of Information Technology.

Ament joined 51ĀŅĀ×ā€™s Office of Information Technology in June 2016, after more than 16 years as a senior level IT leader with the University of Minnesota. He says he is excited to lead 51ĀŅĀ×ā€™s information technology efforts during this transition.

ā€œI am extremely excited for this opportunity to serve 51ĀŅĀ× in this capacity,ā€ said Ament. ā€œWe have a very talented group of people working on the team, and Bradā€™s thought leadership will be a great resource for us as we navigate a new direction and begin a national search for our next CIO.ā€

Bantz, who joined OHIO in 2015, will assume a new role working with the Department of Instructional Innovation to improve the student experience through developing an academic technology roadmap for OHIO.

ā€œThis opportunity is a passion project for me,ā€ said Bantz. ā€œI am proud of my many and significant contributions to this outstanding institution but feel it is time for me to pursue other equally fulfilling opportunities I am passionate about. I am truly excited to have the opportunity to leverage my strengths in instructional innovation to improve the student experience at OHIO.ā€

According to Cohen, this transition affords 51ĀŅĀ× the opportunity to reassess alignment of the institutionā€™s information technology functions.

ā€œOver the next several months, we will be reviewing the current structure related to the academic and administrative functions of our information technology infrastructure,ā€ said Cohen. ā€œWe want to be in a position to enhance the academic mission and especially the student experience through the effective use of technology. I look forward to working with Chris and Craig to develop that roadmap.ā€