New Vice President of CIS enters job with optimism

Kristen Ward Guest Writer

The new Vice President of Computing and Information Services (CIS) Bret Ingerman has his work cut out for him. He hopes to renovate Vassar’s computer network so that network outages and virus infections are a thing of the past. Beefing up a campus network is no small feat. Kristen Ward sat down with the new Vice President to get to know him better—as a person and computer wiz.

Where are you from originally?
The Bronx. I went to school in Syracuse and received my bachelors in Psychology and Neuropsychology.

So how did you get involved in computers?
I did animal research in graduate school one summer [in Syracuse] and ran out of funding, so I got a job working at the brand new computer center. I worked with the faculty to show them how to use the computers in the classroom and for their research. I fell in love with it.

What inspired you to go into this field?
I always wanted to teach. If I could influence the faculty, I can influence the way students learn. It’s interesting to work with faculty to help them rethink the way they work in the classroom.

How did you end up at Vassar?
After graduating, I worked [at Syracuse], then as the director of Academic Computing at Louis and Clark in Portland, Oregon. I was married with no kids, so I wanted to try a new place. After I had a two-year-old, I wanted to come back home east so that my son could get to know his grandparents etc. I was Chief Tech Officer of Skidmore College for four years and saw an opening at Vassar. I also knew the old Vice President who died two years ago. There’s a great professional opportunity to be had at Vassar, it’s wonderful campus with great buildings. It also impressed me how welcoming the campus is. Everyone has been friendly and warm. It’s been nice. It feels good.

How do you like Poughkeepsie?
Poughkeepsie is a city that is beginning to come into its own. I like the ethnic and cultural diversity of Poughkeepsie. You can have city life and go to a farm. I’ve been apple picking with my son.

What does your job entail?
Being new, I’m still trying to figure that out. My job is to help others use technology to do what they do better. What role can technology play in to help Vassar determine what direction it should be going synthesizing those to come up with an overall plan...sense of direction.

What do you want to see change at CIS?
I don’t think I’ve been here long enough to know what I want to see change. We need to reliably provide the basic services people need at CIS and ensure that the services we provide meet their needs. A lot of that is communication. I’m meeting a lot of groups on campus. I want to see more student activities and events. I want to become a more integral part of the community.

What kinds of projects both long term and short term is CIS working on right now?
Short term: we want to improve e-mail and make mail stable and reliable.

How do you make it more stable and reliable?
We’ve invested in buying more software and hardware to take off the load. This will give us time to see if we want to kept the system or remodel it.

And long term?
Nothing specific yet. We want to help people with their ideas and partner with them to make those things happen.

What kind of software and hardware are you buying?
We are buying Unix based servers.

What do we have now?
We are buying more of the same. We are adding more servers to the mix.

Will there be new features?
Hopefully, but not in the short term. We want it to be stable, reliable, and reasonably fast.

How long have you been here?
Since July 1. Coming to Vassar during the summer gave me a chance to learn the staff and the campus, gave me a bit of a running start before the school year began. It is also easier to move in the summer.

How do you like your staff?
Wonderful group of professionals and I’m not just saying that. They have made my transition very smooth. I love coming to work everyday.

What is the most fulfilling part of your job?
Helping people who’ve had pent up questions and issues and seeing the visual relief when they know they’ve been heard and will get things done [and] knowing what we do is valued by the community.

So when you are not in CIS, what do you do in your spare time?
Play with my son. I read quite a bit. I use the fitness center. I like winter sports. I like spending time with my family. Cooking.

Who is your hero?
My grandfather. He is a great human being. He had patience I can’t even imagine ever having. He was thoughtful and extremely supportive about the things that were important to me but that he did not understand, like going to college since he was an immigrant. He is from Poland, but my family is Polish and Austrian. He boarded a boat and came to America. This brings a smile to my face thinking about him.

What is your favorite food?
I’m glad you asked me that. My favorite foods are foods I can’t eat anymore! Macaroni and cheese. It’s one of those foods that I can eat until I am just sick.