For a formal copy please see: johnson_robert_resume_20191111.pdf
ROBERT M. JOHNSON, JR., Ph.D.
SENIOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
AREAS OF EXCELLENCE
Building Consensus
Developing Effective Teams
Leading Organizational Cultural Change
Developing Human Capital
Redesigning Systems and Processes
Governance and Collaborative Change Management
Consulting for Improvement
Creating Innovative Business Models and Plans
Building Strategic Partnerships
Expanding Reach and Market Share
Producing Decision-Support Systems
Generating Stakeholder Value
EXECUTIVE HIGHLIGHTS
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS (2018 to present) Memphis, Tennessee
(Regionally recognized Research II institution with 20,000 students and 5000 employees)
Associate CIO 2018 to present
Providing leadership for project management and infrastructure functions, including enterprise architecture, web and mobile application development, data administration, server, storage, high-performance research computing, and networking technologies and services. Responsible for business continuity, disaster recovery, product lifecycle planning, student lifecycle planning, endpoint management and network access planning, and sponsored account security process leadership
RHODES COLLEGE (1999 to 2017) Memphis, Tennessee
(Nationally recognized four-year, private, coeducational, residential liberal arts college with 2000 students and 225 faculty members)
Vice President, Student and Information Services / CIO 2006 to 2017
Vice President, Information Services / CIO 1999 to 2005
Lecturer 2015 to 2017
Provided executive leadership to multi-division, multi-disciplinary team providing all Information Services and Student Services. Oversaw continuous information systems support to 2,500+ direct users in 100s of products, technologies and subscription-based resources. Reporting to President, managed 5 direct reports and team of more than 200 full- and part-time support staff and $40M annual budget at its peak, using Lean and Agile methodologies.
BELMONT UNIVERSITY (1994 to 1999) Nashville, Tennessee
(Private, coeducational, residential comprehensive university serving 7,700 students and ranked No. 6 in the Regional Universities South category and named as a “Most Innovative” university by U.S. News & World Report)
Chief Information Officer 1997 to 1999
Director, Institutional Research / Assistant Provost 1994 to 1996
Directed integrated Information Technology Services division supporting students, faculty and staff as direct report to President. Managed 3 direct reports, team of 36 and $3M annual budget. Designed and coordinated campus-wide decision support and analytical services as Director, Institutional Research, reporting to Provost.
LEADERSHIP
EDUCATION
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY Nashville, Tennessee
Doctor of Philosophy - Religion, minor in Linguistics
Doctor of Education (ABD) - Higher Education Leadership
Master of Arts - Religion
PRAIRIE COLLEGE Alberta, Canada
Bachelor of Theology
CERTIFICATIONS
TOGAF 9.2 (Enterprise Architecture) Parts I and II
ITIL 2011 Foundation
FEMA Incident Command System, Parts I and II
PUBLICATIONS (SELECTED)
PRESENTATIONS (SELECTED)
CONSULTATIONS (SELECTED)
EXTERNAL BOARDS, COMMITTEES, AND WORK TEAMS (SELECTED)
ROBERT M. JOHNSON, JR., Ph.D.
SENIOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
- Comprehensive experience identifying and solving organizational challenges innovatively and collaboratively, blending traditional human and organizational development tools with selective technologies, business intelligence and analytics, and lean methodologies.
- Proven commitment to systematic shared governance, shared or participatory decision-making, transparency, accountability, collaboration, and customer service, responsible stewardship of resources, innovation and entrepreneurial ventures.
- Demonstrated results in detailed system and process improvements, risk mitigation, business plan development, mission and market expansion, and culture change.
- Extensive track record of enterprise software implementations and migrations including multiple enterprise resource planning, constituent relationship management, learning management, intranet and portal, document management, digital asset management, enterprise content management, business intelligence, and digital marketing suites.
- Strong communication skills with keen ability to establish beneficial relationships with internal and external constituents.
- Career devotion to the mission of higher education, of teaching and learning, research and critical thinking, and of raising the standard of living in a community and region through these endeavors.
AREAS OF EXCELLENCE
Building Consensus
Developing Effective Teams
Leading Organizational Cultural Change
Developing Human Capital
Redesigning Systems and Processes
Governance and Collaborative Change Management
Consulting for Improvement
Creating Innovative Business Models and Plans
Building Strategic Partnerships
Expanding Reach and Market Share
Producing Decision-Support Systems
Generating Stakeholder Value
EXECUTIVE HIGHLIGHTS
- Business Value Development -- Generated new business model across the organization and new lines of customer services
- Strategic Planning – Created planning processes and guidelines for market expansion and enterprise risk management at board and senior leadership level
- Organizational Transformation – Integrated service units for improved customer satisfaction at lower cost
- Industry Innovation – Developed nationally recognized program for increasing customer engagement and value while decreasing organizational cost
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS (2018 to present) Memphis, Tennessee
(Regionally recognized Research II institution with 20,000 students and 5000 employees)
Associate CIO 2018 to present
Providing leadership for project management and infrastructure functions, including enterprise architecture, web and mobile application development, data administration, server, storage, high-performance research computing, and networking technologies and services. Responsible for business continuity, disaster recovery, product lifecycle planning, student lifecycle planning, endpoint management and network access planning, and sponsored account security process leadership
- $6.5 M network refresh project of 750 switches and 2500 wireless access points, all phases on time and under budget
- Data center and high-performance computing replacement
- ERP and CRM implementation and integration plans
- Data warehouse and data architecture renewal for transactional, relationship, digital marketing, and IoT data sources
- Change management, project prioritization, resource allocation and planning for rapid, strategic pivots
RHODES COLLEGE (1999 to 2017) Memphis, Tennessee
(Nationally recognized four-year, private, coeducational, residential liberal arts college with 2000 students and 225 faculty members)
Vice President, Student and Information Services / CIO 2006 to 2017
Vice President, Information Services / CIO 1999 to 2005
Lecturer 2015 to 2017
Provided executive leadership to multi-division, multi-disciplinary team providing all Information Services and Student Services. Oversaw continuous information systems support to 2,500+ direct users in 100s of products, technologies and subscription-based resources. Reporting to President, managed 5 direct reports and team of more than 200 full- and part-time support staff and $40M annual budget at its peak, using Lean and Agile methodologies.
- Directed business process management and software implementations for all major software systems for transactions, internal and external relationship management and content archives and management; implemented multiple software initiatives to capture and store business and academic documents, promote collaboration and provide analytics.
- Led reorganization of Information Services to increase visibility and distinctiveness of academic functions and presence through improved service relationships and cost avoidance. Managed 24-person team over multi-year project. Achieved staffing and budget at 50% of closest competitor providing similar services.
- Evaluated and merged multiple independent departments into central unit to improve services and response times while lowering FTE requirements.
- Eliminated staffing vulnerability through cross-training across functions.
- Created and delivered process improvements to provide operational transparency to customer and build trust through improved communication on order progress and completion.
- Established digital marketing support processes to improve recruitment, customer service and philanthropic support; created digital asset inventory and storage process to improve access to and use of existing materials; formed enterprise content management initiative; launched customer relationship management system to boost relationships with target audiences.
- Designed data warehouse and shared reporting interfaces for data dictionary, glossary and resource standardization; introduced Balanced Scorecard for executive and Trustee planning and system monitoring.
- Developed publicly recognized student employment program that increased business productivity and capacity by 25 FTEs and decreased annual costs by $750K.
- Directed business redesign of Student Services delivery model with focus on service integration through improved access, customer service and student retention. Managed 8 direct report project leads and team of 100+ during 3-year project.
- Awarded 2010 MSQPC Challenge Award for customer services integration across student life cycle.
- Achieved 20% service satisfaction improvement, 7-9% retention increase and 25% increase in recruitment, yielding largest incoming class in history of college at that time.
- Evaluated fragmented services and identified opportunities to collaborate across divisions with greater emphasis on student/family experience; oriented reorganization toward teams providing services for a specific point in student life cycle (i.e., admissions, financial, experience beyond classroom).
- Cross-trained staff to serve in multiple customer-facing functions to improve staff response time and provide employee development while also reducing student wait time and/or multiple contacts.
- Served on Senior Executive Team; planned and facilitated strategic and operational planning by team; created planning scenarios, and enterprise risk management plan for Board of Trustees.
- Served on multiple committees and work teams, including: President’s Common Table, President’s Cabinet, InRhodes Steering Committee, Rhodes Student Associate Program Steering Committee, Enrollment Management Committee, Dean’s Council, Strategic Planning Steering Committee, Banner Steering Committee, Salesforce Steering Committee and Dean of the College Search Committee.
- Faculty member; courses included connecting with CEOs and succeeding in the 1st year of college.
BELMONT UNIVERSITY (1994 to 1999) Nashville, Tennessee
(Private, coeducational, residential comprehensive university serving 7,700 students and ranked No. 6 in the Regional Universities South category and named as a “Most Innovative” university by U.S. News & World Report)
Chief Information Officer 1997 to 1999
Director, Institutional Research / Assistant Provost 1994 to 1996
Directed integrated Information Technology Services division supporting students, faculty and staff as direct report to President. Managed 3 direct reports, team of 36 and $3M annual budget. Designed and coordinated campus-wide decision support and analytical services as Director, Institutional Research, reporting to Provost.
- Reengineered function and processes to improve productivity and reduce expenses; realized more than $100K annual savings through equipment standardization, transition from best-of-breed to enterprise basis for technology choices and consolidation of multiple units into central organization.
- Developed strategic plan and related product line, supporting 100% increase in student body.
- Member of 5-person University College planning group that developed new Bachelor of General Studies degree and other programs for adult students to increase enrollment by capitalizing on unmet market need.
- Supported development of RN-to-BSN program in response to new regulatory requirements and opportunity to meet and grow market demand.
- Identified and created new off-campus program allowing adult students to take classes nights and weekends to achieve degree completion without student residency stipulation.
- Supported development and execution of online course program to provide greater flexibility to target audience, recognized as early adapter of online classes.
- Initiated process to integrate all data capture, analysis and reporting for decision support, including customer acquisition and retention projections, workload balancing, compensation analysis, program evaluation and accreditation support.
- Created data warehouse and shared reporting interfaces; created Balanced Scorecard for executive and Trustee planning and system monitoring.
- Participated in multiple internal committees and work groups, including: Institutional Planning Group, Institutional Review Board, Budget Team, Long-Range Planning Steering Committee, President’s Council, University College Planning Group, Enrollment Management Committee and Compensation Team
- Contributor to university’s achievement of 1997 RIT/USA Today Award.
LEADERSHIP
- National Institute of Technology and Liberal Education - regional and national committees
- “Transformations,” “Academic Commons” Editorial Board, Chief Editor
- National and Regional Advisory Board
- National Cost Committee
- Council for Library and Information Resources (CLIR) CIO Group – Founding member
- Educause, regional and national committees
- IT Assessment and Benchmarking. Advisory Board
- Maturity Index/ Deployment Index Committee
- Southeast Regional Meeting, Program Committee
- Author
- Associated Colleges of the South
- Security and Disaster Recover Task Force
- Education and Training Task Force, Information Fluency Grant Committee
- Information Fluency Coordinating Committee
- Collaboration Subcommittee
- Security and Disaster Recover Task Force
- Greater Memphis IT Council - Board Member
- Society for Information Management (SIM International)
- Membership Committee
- Marketing Committee
- Programs Committee
- University of Memphis, Business IT Advisory Board - Committee Chair
- Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) - Laura Bush Program Reviewer
- Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities - Volume Purchasing Committee
- Project Kaleidoscope Learning Spaces - Lecturer
- City of Memphis CIO Advisory Board - Member
- Memphis IT Executive Council Committee, Memphis Chamber of Commerce - Member
- Tennessee Statewide Task Force on Articulation and Transfer - Member
EDUCATION
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY Nashville, Tennessee
Doctor of Philosophy - Religion, minor in Linguistics
Doctor of Education (ABD) - Higher Education Leadership
Master of Arts - Religion
PRAIRIE COLLEGE Alberta, Canada
Bachelor of Theology
CERTIFICATIONS
TOGAF 9.2 (Enterprise Architecture) Parts I and II
ITIL 2011 Foundation
FEMA Incident Command System, Parts I and II
PUBLICATIONS (SELECTED)
- “Promoting the Process of Digital Transformation at the University of Memphis,” in Educause Review, April 22, 2019
- "Toward Core Norms for College Student Behavior" with John Braxton, Mary Hutchens, and Clay Francis, in Journal of College Student Development, submitted.
- “Education Industry in Sync with Technology,” in Education Technology Insights, 2016
- “Integrating Advanced Technology and Education” in CIO Review, 2016
- “Upgrading the Cycle of Learning” in CIO Review, 2016
- “We Know Who’s Top,” Times Higher Education Op-Ed, 2008
- Editor-in-Chief (with Terry Metz), Transformations, 2005
- “Libraries, Please Keep Your Books,” Christian Science Monitor Op-Ed, 2005
- "Investigating the Processes of Persistence: Refining Discourse Analysis as a Tool for Generating New Departure Theory" in Reworking the Departure Puzzle, ed. by John M. Braxton, 2000.
- "Appraising Tinto's Theory of College Student Departure," with John Braxton and Anna Sullivan, in Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, ed. by John Smart, 1998.
- "The Relationship between Faculty Publication Productivity and the Cognitive Complexity of Student Examination Questions" New Directions in Institutional Research, 1997.
PRESENTATIONS (SELECTED)
- “Turning Your Vision into a Reality: Innovative Approaches to Achieving Operational Excellence,” Consero Conference (San Diego), 2013.
- “Got the Blues? Issues That Keep Us Up All Night” with Ann Harbor and Robert Jackson, The University of Memphis, SIGUCCS, 2012
- “Can We Do It? Making It Work in the New World; or, Managing Increased Complexity at the Organizational Level in the Real World,” Educause Southeast Regional Capstone Panelist, Conference, 2011.
- “From a Culture of Excellence to a Culture of Improvement: Reimagining Student Services,” with Amy Oakes Ware, NCCI Annual Meeting, 2010.
- “From a Culture of Excellence to a Culture of Improvement: Reimagining Student Services,” with Amy Oakes Ware, NACUBO Annual Meeting, 2010.
- “Introduction to Effecting Change on Campus,” Gardner-Webb, 2008.
- “Three Roles and One Goal; Planning for Hi-Tech Learning Spaces,” with Henry Myerberg and Paul Hagner, PKAL 2006, 2007, 2008.
- “Strategic Planning for Learning Spaces,” with Chris Perriman, CLAC National Conference, 2008.
- “Rhodes College Library Case Study,” NITLE, MIV, 2008.
- University of Memphis Librarians, Thoughts about the Future of Libraries and Partnerships with IT, 2007.
- “Introduction to Effecting Change on Campus,” Council for Independent Colleges, 2007.
- “Breaking the Code,” TICUA, 2006.
- “A New Look at an Old Solution: The Potential and Promise of Student Work,” with Suzanne Bonefas and Bob Paver, American Association of Higher Education, National Meeting, 2005.
- “Digital Asset Management: The Case of Crossroads to Freedom,” Information Services Conference, Kenyon College, 2005.
- “First Things First: Putting Project Prioritization before Project Management,“ with Suzanne Bonefas, Educause, Southwest Regional Meeting, 2005.
- “First Things First: Putting Project Prioritization before Project Management,“ with Suzanne Bonefas, Educause, Southeast Regional Meeting, 2005.
- With Suzanne Bonefas, “The Perils and Pay-offs of Collaborative Strategic Planning,” Educause National Meeting, 2005.
- “Student Work: Maximizing A Single Solution to Multiple Problems,” with Suzanne Bonefas, The Educational Symposium for Research and Innovations, George Washington University, 2005.
- NITLE/ACSTC Symposium: Strategic Planning for Digital Assets Management, Capstone Speaker, 2005.
- “Equipping Ourselves for the Voyage: How Can We Plan for a Rapidly Changing Environment?” with Suzanne Bonefas, David Smallen, and Karen Leach, NITLE National Meeting Plenary Session, 2004.
- “How Far Can You Collaborate?” with Suzanne Bonefas, Educause Southwest Regional, 2004.
- “Overcoming Assessment Challenges on a Campus-Wide Basis,” Teagle Foundation “’Listening Conference’ on Assessment,” 2004.
- ACS Strategic Planning Workshop, (designed and led), 2004.
- “Personnel Development,” ACS CIO Annual Conference, 2002.
- Closing Panelist, ACS IT Retreat, 2002.
- "The Departure Puzzle: Appraising Tinto's Theory of Student Departure,” with John Braxton and Anna Sullivan, American Educational Research Association, 1996.
- "Postmodernity, Critical Theory, and the Nature of the Discipline" Society of Biblical Literature, 1994.
- "Spoken Like a Woman: Sex, Dominance, and Ruth" Society of Biblical Literature, 1994.
- "Does Publication Rate Correlate with Examination Questions?" Association for the Study of Higher Education, 1994.
- "Casual Conversations? Gender and Ideology in the Book of Ruth" Society of Biblical Literature, 1992.
- "Transnotation of the Hebrew Vowel System" Society of Biblical Literature, 1992.
- "Do We Need Another Grammar?" Society of Biblical Literature, 1991.
CONSULTATIONS (SELECTED)
- SILQ-EDU (Analytics and Visualization Consultation)
- Meridian Econometrics (Strategic Marketing Study)
- St. Jude, 2016 (Product Selection Committee)
- University of Memphis, 2014 (Strategic Planning)
- Hartwick College, 2009 (External IT and Library Review)
- Dillard College, 2007 (Sent by Andrew-Mellon Foundation)
- Rollins College, 2006 (External IT Review)
- Lake Forest College, 2006 (External IT Review)
- Mt. Holyoke, 2005 (External IT and Library Review)
- Kalamazoo College, 2005 (External IT Review)
- Appalachian College Association, 2005 (Strategic Planning/ External IT Review)
- ACS Technology Center, 2003 (Strategic Planning)
- American University in Paris, 2005 (External IT and Library Review)
- Austin College, 2002 (External IT Review)
EXTERNAL BOARDS, COMMITTEES, AND WORK TEAMS (SELECTED)
- University of Memphis, Fogelman School of Business BIT Program Advisory Board, 2015-present
- Memphis Cybersecurity Best Practice Exchange, Leadership Board, 2019
- SIM International, Memphis Chapter, Marketing Chair (2017-present)
- Greater Memphis IT Council Board, 2016- 2018
- City of Memphis CIO Advisory Board, 2015-2017
- University of Memphis, Redefining the University Libraries, 2014
- Educause IT Assessment and Benchmarking. Advisory Board, 2014-5
- Educause Maturity Index/ Deployment Index Committee, 2014-5
- NITLE Transformations/Academic Commons Editorial Board, 2013-4
- Council for Library and Information Resources (CLIR) CIO Group, 2002-present
- Society for Information Management (SIM International), Memphis Chapter, Strategy Series Leadership Committee, 2011
- National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education (NITLE) National Advisory Board, 2009-2011
- SIM International, Memphis Chapter, Program Committee, 2010
- Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Laura Bush Program Reviewer, 2009
- Teagle Foundation, Community-Based Learning Grant, Steering Committee, 2008-9
- University of Alabama, Faculty Listing, Dissertation Defense Committee, 2008
- Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL), 2007, 2008
- NITLE Regional Advisory Board, 2005-2008
- SIM International, Memphis Chapter, Marketing Committee, 2007
- Memphis IT Executive Committee, Memphis Chamber of Commerce, 2004-2007
- SIM International, Memphis Chapter, Membership Committee, 2002-3
- NITLE Cost Committee, 2001-2004
- Associated Colleges of the South (ACS), Security and Disaster Recovery Task Force, 2005
- ACS, Education and Training Task Force, 2005
- Educause, Southeast Regional Meeting, Program Committee, 2005
- ACS Information Fluency Grant Committee, 2002-2004
- ACS Information Fluency, Collaboration Subcommittee, 2000-2003
- Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association (TICUA) Volume Purchasing Group, 2001-2003
- ACS Coordinating Committee for Information Fluency, 2000-2003
- Nashville Peer-Learning Network, 1999
- Tennessee Statewide Task Force on Articulation and Transfer (THEC and TBR), 1995-1996