Speaker: Joanne Kossuth

Currently Joanne acts as the Chief Information Officer for Mitchell College with responsibility for academic, administrative, and enterprise computing and library information services. Joanne also serves as principal in her consulting services company, 1MountainRoad. 1MountainRoad specializes in strategic business process re-engineering; aspirant and leadership development; human capital management and team building; and collaboration and services implementations.

As Olin College's Vice President for Operations and CIO, Ms. Kossuth had primary responsibility for the operational and technology areas of the college. These included: conference services, dining services, facilities, human resources, information technology, planning and project management, public safety. In addition to her operations duties, she was responsible for building relationships with neighboring institutions, including Babson, Brandeis, and Wellesley Colleges. Ms. Kossuth founded and convened the External Technology Advisory Board and the Olin Innovation Lab.

Her IT leadership led to her being named one of Computerworld's Premiere 100 CIOs in 2005. She received the EDUCAUSE Community Leadership Award, 2014. Joanne's previous experience includes positions at Fisher College, Wheelock College and the Boston University School of Management. Her publications include: "Attracting Women to Technical Professions," and "Building Relationships Means Better IT Contracts," “The Converged Workplace” and Chapter 32 or “Olin College: Academic and Olin Centers” in the EDUCAUSE E-Book “Learning Spaces.” , Ms Kossuth continues to provide service and leadership to EDUCAUSE and CLIR as the Dean of the Leading Change Institute and to NERCOMP as the co-founder of the EDUCAUSE NERCOMP IT Manager Workshop Series. She was selected as a member of Juniper Network's Higher Education Advisory Board, Plantronics Unified Communications Advisory Board, and E&I's Technology Strategy Team

Speaker:Steven McDonald

Steven McDonald is General Counsel at Rhode Island School of Design and previously served as Associate Legal Counsel at The Ohio State University. He has handled a number of Internet-related legal matters, ranging from alleged infringements of copyrighted materials on student web pages to investigations of computer break-ins to an e-mail death threat to Socks the cat. He began his legal career in private practice at Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, where he represented CompuServe in Cubby v. CompuServe, the first online libel case, and he also has taught courses in Internet law at Ohio State's College of Law and at Capital University Law School. He is a Fellow and past member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of College and University Attorneys and the editor of NACUA’s The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act: A Legal Compendium. In State, ex rel. Thomas v. The Ohio State University, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that he really is a lawyer. He received his A.B. from Duke University and his J.D. from The Yale Law School.


Speaker: Lisa Trubitt

Lisa Trubitt is the Assistant CIO for Policy & Communications at the University at Albany, SUNY, where she focuses on improving and administering IT services to the University community. Current responsibilities include: IT policy development; internal and external communications; fostering relationships and working with various stakeholder and advisory groups; and strategic planning. Her interests range from the professional development and mentoring of staff to exploring creative solutions for organizational challenges and rethinking the role of IT in higher education.

The co-founder and former leader of the EDUCAUSE IT Communications Constituent Group (ITCOMM), Trubitt has given numerous presentations and authored articles on the importance of IT communications. Policy-related activities include presentations and service on the former ICPL Advisory Committee. Trubitt is currently the director of the EDUCAUSE Institute Management Program faculty. She has also served on the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference Program and Professional Development Committees. She is currently a member of the NERCOMP Board and faculty for the Workshop Series for Managers Part 2. She is a trustee of the Capital District Library Council (CDLC) and a Frye Leadership Fellow (2007). Trubitt holds a bachelor of arts in English and Criminal Justice and a master of arts in Criminal Justice from the University at Albany.


Speaker: Colleen Wheeler

Colleen Wheeler has spent over three decades developing progressive learning and development opportunities in a variety of educational environments. A gifted music teacher, Colleen has most recently provided technology education, outreach, and organizational development for Wheaton College’s Web Strategy and Library and Information Services teams.

Colleen served as an officer on the Board of Trustees of NERCOMP (Northeast Regional Computing Program), and chaired Board committees overseeing professional development programming and membership education. She helped institute NERCOMP’s unique and successful caucus-based, all-volunteer program of instructional workshops and helped found the organization’s popular Management Series (Parts I and II).

She co-founded the Susan Vogt Leadership Fellows Program for The Boston Consortium for Higher Education and serves on its Advisory Board. Colleen is also a dean of the NERCOMP Learning Organization Academy, a Frye Institute fellow, and a Klingenstein Summer fellow.