Bernard (Bernie) Gulachek has been appointed vice president for information technology and chief information officer at the University of Minnesota, pending approval by the University’s Board of Regents at its June meeting. Gulachek has served as interim vice president and chief information officer at the University since September 2015.
“In his 31 years serving the University of Minnesota in IT roles, Bernie has demonstrated his ability to lead with innovation, build teams, bridge divisions and nurture trust,” said Brian Burnett, senior vice president for finance and operations at the University. “I expect the University community will see more of Bernie’s commitment to the University’s core mission, to diversity and inclusion and to a service-oriented approach to leadership.”
In his role as vice president for information technology and chief information officer, Gulachek oversees the University’s system-wide Office of Information Technology (OIT). His team optimizes the efficiency of centralized technology systems, manages IT challenges involving risk, achieves greater levels of cost savings, service and innovation, provides IT support to units across the University and ensures that the University’s technology systems and services meet critical stakeholder needs across the University.
Gulachek has been with the University of Minnesota since 1986 and is a 1985 graduate of the College of Liberal Arts. As interim vice president and chief information officer, Gulachek has worked to build relationships, trust, and service excellence within OIT. Prior to serving in the interim role, Gulachek held various positions in information technology and networking/telecommunications at the University, including overseeing the transition to Google Apps (saving over $15 million annually) and the installation of the institution’s first wireless network.
Under his leadership as interim VP/CIO, Gulachek has implemented efforts to diversify the OIT workforce, with recent hiring meeting or exceeding market availability for women, persons of color and individuals with disabilities. He established the enterprise server service offering, centralizing nearly 4,000 distributed and locally owned servers into centrally managed virtual infrastructure creating capital and operational cost savings of nearly $4 million. Through network divestment, Gulachek eliminated voice and data network costs totaling over $2 million annually and by centralizing IT help-desks on the Twin Cities campus, he created resource savings of over $2.3 million annually for deans and department heads to reinvest directly in the core mission.
The University launched a comprehensive search for the position. “I want to thank the hundreds of University staff, students and faculty who attended in person or online to participate and hear from the three finalists for the Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer,” said Burnett. “I also thank the search committee, under the leadership of University Librarian and McKnight Presidential Professor Wendy Lougee and Associate Vice President Michael Volna, for their hard work in bringing a slate of well-qualified candidates to campus.”
Gulacheck’s appointment is effective June 12, 2017, pending approval by the Board of Regents.
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