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USI selects Siders as new Chief Information Officer

July 28, 2022

Austin Siders has accepted the position of Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the University of Southern Indiana. The announcement was made Friday, July 29 by Steve Bridges, Vice President for Finance and Administration, and is effective September 1, 2022. Siders will succeed Richard Toeniskoetter who retired as CIO after 10 years of service, and Anastasia (Stacy) Draper who has served as Interim CIO since September 2021. 

As CIO at USI, Siders will head the Information Technology Department and its work of providing support for faculty, staff and students of the University. This encompasses administrative and academic computer support; cybersecurity; Local Area Network (LAN) support structure; microcomputer hardware and software support; Internet assistance; audio/visual; Blackboard; telecommunications; and various software applications. 

"Austin brings to USI both strong technical skills and strong strategic visioning abilities," says Bridges. "His wealth of experience fits the needs of the University of Southern Indiana now and as we look to a future where technology is ever changing and critical to our mission." 

Siders served the last nine years as Director of Enterprise Applications and Solutions at Austin Peay State University. In his role at Austin Peay, he provided strategic leadership and direction for the implementation and maintenance of enterprise information systems.  

Siders has more than 15 years of higher education technology experience from his employment at Austin Peay, including six years as a systems analyst and programmer and 10 months as Interim Director of Information Technology (CIO). He also served as an adjunct faculty, providing instruction in programming, cybersecurity and information security governance. 

Siders holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and information security and a master's degree in computer science and quantitative methods from Austin Peay. 

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