Online and Onboard

In July 2004, Bret Ingerman joined the Vassar community as vice president for computing and information services (CIS). As part of the college’s senior administration, Ingerman and his staff are responsible for creating and managing a campus environment that enables each member of the community to use information technologies productively for teaching, learning, research, administration, and outreach.

Ingerman was chief technology officer at Skidmore College for the last four years, overseeing computing, networking, and telecommunications. After receiving his B.S. in psychology and M.S. in behavioral neuroscience/experimental psychology at Syracuse University, he held a variety of technology positions, including manager of advanced applications at Syracuse and assistant vice president for information technology at Lewis & Clark College. At both Syracuse and Lewis & Clark, Ingerman taught graduate courses, including “Literacy: Print, Media and Technology,” “Instructional Technology in the Foreign Language Classroom,” and “Design and Development of Instructional Courseware.”

Ingerman’s priority for the last few months has been to increase the amount and quality of communications between CIS and faculty, administration, and students. In evaluating the campus, he added, “I think that Vassar is on par with many of our peer institutions in terms of the technologies that are available—it’s more the applied use of those technologies that sets Vassar apart. For example, having facilities such as the Scientific Visualization Lab, the GIS lab, and the Media Cloisters provides a rich infrastructure, which has enabled our faculty, students, and staff to use technology in creative and innovative ways.”