Speaker: Joanne Kossuth

As Vice President for Operations and CIO, Ms. Kossuth has primary responsibility for the operational and technology areas of the college. These include: conference services, dining services, electronic security, facilities, human resources, information technology, planning and project management, and public safety. In addition to her operations duties, she is responsible for fostering non-academic relationships with neighboring institutions, including Babson, Brandeis, and Wellesley Colleges. She was recently appointed as the Administrative Director of the BOW collaboration. Ms. Kossuth founded and convened the External Technology Advisory Board (EXTAB) upon her arrival at Olin College in November, 1999. The EXTAB continues to be an important part of IT governance at the College. More recently and in partnership with Thornton May, she founded the Olin Innovation Lab which brings together information technology innovators (CEOs, CIOs, CISOs, Sr VPs) on the Olin campus twice a year.|

As Chief Information Officer, Ms. Kossuth has had a unique opportunity to design fully converged leading-edge technology facilities at Olin College from scratch, as well as to implement best IT practices from a clean slate. Her IT leadership led to her being named one of Computerworld's Premiere 100 CIOs in 2005. Her previous experience includes Systems Manager at Fisher College, Director of Information Technology at Wheelock College and Director of Computer Support Services at the Boston University School of Management. Ms. Kossuth's professional background includes a B.A. from Holy Cross College and a M.S. from Lesley University with a concentration in developing and implementing information systems for small businesses. She also received technical certifications in areas such as network and security engineering from Novell, SANS, and Microsoft. She has been involved for a number of years in EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. Most recently she received the award for Community Leadership at the 2014 annual conference and serves as the Dean of the Leading Change Institute. Joanne was the Editor for the Viewpoints Column of EDUCAUSE Review in 2011 and served as a member of the Frey Leadership Council. She also chaired the 2009 Annual Program Committee which was responsible for a 7000+ person conference. Her previous service includes: EDUCAUSE Board Member, Demand Aggregation Task Force, Management Institute Faculty Member; Chair of the 2020 committee focused on insuring the future relevance of EDUCAUSE to its members; Nominations Committee member; EDUCAUSE Member Liaison Committee; Ryland Fellowship Advisory Group; Professional Development Committee and the Recognition Committee. Her publications include: Looking at Clouds from All Sides Now published in EDUCAUSE Review, Attracting Women to Technical Professions,and Building Relationships Means Better IT Contracts, both published in EDUCAUSE Quarterly, as well as The Converged Workplace published in the ACUTA Journal of Technology in Higher Education, and Chapter 32 of Olin College: Academic and Olin Centers in the EDUCAUSE E-Book Learning Spaces.

Ms. Kossuth continues to provide service and leadership to NERCOMP as the co-founder of the EDUCAUSE NERCOMP IT Manager Workshop Series and serves on the nominations committee. She also serves as a member of the Town of Needham's Technology Advisory Committee, Needham's School Emergency Advisory Team, and Needham's Local Emergency Planning Team;as a Judge for the Computerworld Honors Program and the Connecticut Innovations Program; Chairs the ACUTA Higher Education Advisory Panel; and was selected as a member of Juniper Network's Higher Education Advisory Board, Plantronics Unified Communications Advisory Board, E&I's Technology Strategy Team and HP/Intel's Higher Education Advisory Council.


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.