From having many years of experience in the field of technology to raising four daughters with his wife of 40 years, Tom Sawyer, chief information officer, said he feels right at home in his new position at IU Southeast.

“The environment here is just conducive to learning,” Sawyer said. “I love the way [the faculty] care about the students. It makes me feel good, like we’re doing something right.”

Sawyer said his job consists of taking care of the technology needs of the university.

“We take care of the computer labs, media and all the network and phone infrastructure, as well as server and storage management,” Sawyer said.

Sawyer also said he is reponsible for the day-to-day work in the Information Technology Department.

There are 25 full-time employees and 30 part-time. The part-time employees are mostly students.

Sawyer has three directors who report to him.

“He’s a pretty straight-forward individual,” Nick Ray, director of communications and support, said. “Anybody coming into a new role at that level would want to make changes. I know he’s evaluating the department.

Sawyer said he plans to make some changes. However, he cannot discuss the details until speaking with his staff.

“I can say that we’ll be looking at restructuring the organization to be more efficiently effective for 2010 and beyond,” Sawyer said.

“I want to create a technology organization that is ready to deliver the services and meet demands of today’s campus community,” he said.

Cindy Hayes, senior office services assistant, is doubling as the administrative assistant for Sawyer.

“He’s easy to get along with, and he’s not overly demanding,” Hayes said.  Sawyer said he loves the culture at IU Southeast.

“I told my wife that I would strongly encourage our daughters to go to IUS for their undergrad, if they weren’t already through college,” he said.

Sawyer has a lot of experience in the field of technology, receiving a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Northwood University in Midland, Mich.

For 18 years, Sawyer was the director of Operations, Production and Systems Enhancements at Michigan State University.

Before coming to IU Southeast, Sawyer was the assistant vice president for IT at the University of Louisville for 23 years.

A part of his duties, Sawyer will be involved with the annual Tech Fest.

The IT Tech Fest is on Oct. 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will be in the Hoosier Room.

“This is where we showcase all the computer technology,” Sawyer said. “It is to make people more aware of the technology that IU has to offer.”

He said someone from Bloomington will also be at the Tech Fest to futher students’ knowledge about technology and services.

Sawyer’s office is located in University Center South, room 202.

By KRISTINA BLEUEL

Staff

kcbleuel@umail.iu.edu