Mark Staples

Senior Vice President of Information Technology / Chief Information Officer

Mark A. Staples (Ed.D., MBA) is the senior vice president and chief information officer at the College of Charleston and oversees the Division of Information Technology.

More than just a technology leader, Staples is a thought leader in the business of higher education. His ability to converge technology into the business of higher education creates a transformative impact on both revenue and operational efficiencies. He has also established a reputation for bridging the gap between technology and the rest of the institution, fostering a culture in which technology is thoroughly integrated with every aspect of the institutional mission, reinforcing rather than complicating institutional objectives.

His contributions to the field through publications and presentations span a broad range of topics, including IT culture and leadership, the impact of social media on knowledge management and communities of practice, organizational change and design, mobile technology, effective budgeting in higher education, and the digital revolution's impact on the teaching and learning mission of higher education. His doctoral research investigates the sustainability of higher education given the rapidly changing technological landscape, highlighting where technology has failed to live up to its potential and identifying the necessary cultural and fiscal steps required for a transformative use of technology in an educational context - becoming a digital university.

Staples is an adjunct faculty member in the D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University, teaching both in the classroom for the undergraduate MIS program and online for the executive MBA program. He was voted Favorite Professor in 2012. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Toledo Alumni Association, serving on the communications and outreach subcommittees.

Away from work, Staples has been a radio personality, the producer of a weekly syndicated television program and has owned and operated a recording studio, producing and engineering music and voiceover production. He has also been a concert and music festival promoter and spent several years as a college and high school sports official for football, basketball, baseball and volleyball.

Education

2020: Doctorate of Education, Northeastern University

1998: MBA, The University of Findlay

1998: B.S. in Human Relations, The University of Toledo

Career Highlights

2016-Present: Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, College of Charleston

2012-2016: Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Wentworth Institute of Technology

2009-2012: Director of Academic and Research Technologies, Northeastern University

2003-2008: Chief Information Security Officer, Georgia Health Sciences University

1999-2003: Director of Infrastructure Services and Client Support, Medical University of Ohio

1998-1999: Network Specialist, Medical University of Ohio

1997-1998: Network Administrator, The University of Toledo

1987-1996: Various technical roles, Indiana University Bloomington

Honors and Achievements

2015-2016: Founder and Co-Chair, Education Roundtable, Boston Chapter, Society of Information Management

2016: Finalist, Boston CIO of the Year (nonprofit sector)

2015: Nominee, Boston CIO of the Year (nonprofit sector)

2012: Recipient of the Excellence/Innovation Award, Northeastern University

2009-2012: Co-Chair of Biomedical Consortium (Harvard Medical, UMass, Tufts University, MIT, and several biomedical labs throughout the Commonwealth)