CIO

Dr. Mike Carlin has worked in the higher education IT community for over 20 years with a wide-range of professional interests including cloud computing, federated identity management, and policy development. He joined UNC Charlotte as Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer (CIO) in 2013, leading a remarkable team of people tasked with operating and enhancing the University’s IT environment. He is responsible for ITS strategic planning as well as operations, budgeting, policy development, and overall vision. During his time at UNC Charlotte, he has spearheaded several campus-wide initiatives including:

  • Development of a cloud first initiative
  • Implementation of the multi-phased IT Master Plan which includes sixteen (16) individual initiatives to be enacted from 2015-2019
  • Improvements in disaster recovery practices as well as increased security awareness protocols
  • Migration from Microsoft Outlook and Office 365 to Google platform (e.g. Gmail, Calendar) Dropbox deployment and utilization
  • Upgrade and replacement of WiFi, utilizing new Aruba Wave 2 access points
  • Adoption of Canvas as the new LMS, replacing Moodle
  • Development of a new IT Communications model
  • Construction of two new cellular towers
  • Development of new Identity Management strategy, leveraging open source tools
  • Working with HR to develop a core competencies model for the IT community
  • Reduced overall spending by $1.5M dollars, while increasing efficiency and effectiveness Developed a sustainable infrastructure plan for the campus
  • Created budgeting lifecycle plan for all campus infrastructure, allowing clear expectations and communication with campus leadership
  • Implementation of BYOD strategy in the classroom

In addition to his role as Vice Chancellor and CIO, Dr. Carlin is an adjunct faculty member in the College of Computing and Informatics and an active member of Educause as a presenter, committee member, and mentor. His education and career began at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), and continued for over 17 years. Dr. Carlin earned his Ph.D. in Information Systems while there, conducting doctoral research of guidelines that would aid in the successful development of cross‐cultural e‐commerce sites between China and the United States. He also grew his career at UMBC while serving in several different IT roles, including Deputy CIO.

Dr. Carlin resides in Charlotte, NC with his wife and fellow UMBC alumna, Dr. Cherisse Carlin, who earned her doctorate in Language, Literacy, and Culture. They have two young daughters.