After a long and in-depth search process last spring, Dan Terrio has been appointed new Chief Information Officer at Whitman. He is the successor of previous CIO Keiko Pitter, who retired last year. Terrio has been working in the field of technology for more than 20 years, most recently as CIO of Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore.

After working at both larger research institutions like Miami University, Ohio, and smaller liberal arts colleges, Terrio found his niche.

“I found that I preferred a smaller environment where I had more direct contact with students,” he said.

When the job at Whitman opened up, Terrio was glad to apply. After working at Lewis and Clark for 10 years, he was ready for a change in scenery.

“Whitman is an excellent institution. Even when I was interviewing, its strong sense of community was apparent and exciting to me.”

He has spent his first few weeks on the job assessing the way things are run and meeting with staff and faculty leadership. Terrio is positive about the current state of affairs in technology services.

“There is a really good foundation of technological infrastructure here, as well as an amazing staff that is committed and dedicated to working well as a team,” he said.

Terrio hopes to implement more technology into the Whitman curriculum.

“I feel that technology has the potential to impact teaching and learning positively. I believe that Whitman could use the unharnessed potential of technology to supplement the way the faculty teaches and students learn,” he said

Terrio is particularly looking forward to working with the Student Technology Advisory Committee.

“We have much that we can learn from the students and I would like to see the student advisory committee become a revived and rejuvenated committee that is engaged in helping technology at Whitman continue to advance and thrive,” he said.

Terrio is also looking forward to interacting more with the Whitman community. Further goals include focusing on using technology as efficiently and effectively as possible outside academics, like setting up a system for registration and keeping costs contained within technology services.

“Time has flown by since I’ve gotten here. People at Whitman have been welcoming and helpful and willing to answer questions. Now that students are back, I’m looking forward to opportunities to talk and interact with them.”