Patty Roper, currently senior director of administration and finance information technology (A&F IT), has been appointed deputy chief technology officer, effective Sept. 22.
In leading A&F IT, the second-largest IT unit on campus, Roper has built partnerships across academic and administrative units and has led teams through change with a focus on both service and strategy.
The new role of deputy CTO is part of a broader UMass initiative to bring together central and distributed IT teams under one coordinated structure, the goal for which is to improve consistency, strengthen security, and deliver more effective support for teaching, research and university operations.
“It’s a privilege to help lead this next phase of IT at UMass,” Roper says. “We have incredibly talented people across campus. By working together more intentionally, we can create something that’s not only more coordinated, but more empowering for staff and for the communities we support.”
“We’re designing an IT organization that’s built for where the university is headed,” says Christopher Misra, vice chancellor for information technology and CIO. “That means creating clarity, reducing risk, and giving staff across campus the structure and support they need to succeed. Patty has a deep understanding of what that takes. She knows the people and the systems, and she leads with both perspective and purpose.”
In addition to the deputy CTO role, several other new leadership positions have been established to guide this transition, including a deputy chief information security officer, an academic digital solutions business partner, and a planned technical lead for learning technologies – changes that are designed to reduce duplication, improve coordination, and support the university’s growing need for consistent and proactive cybersecurity.