C. Blaine Keener

• The Associate Director, Information Technology is the conduit to ensure operational and service excellence for Transportation Services.
• Provide thought leadership on best practices and themes in the context of strategies and challenges with a goal of balancing client expectations and best interests of the University.
• Taking a collaborative approach, plan, organize, staff, lead, and unify operations.
• Manage and coach a team of technical professionals ensuring professional development.
• Proactively manage incidents and client requests and develop, oversee, and lead services or projects to ensure client expectations are met or exceeded.
• Provide leadership for IT Staff and junior IT leaders.
• Oversee recruitment, hiring, and supervision of large and/or multiple teams staffed with IT team leaders/managers, multi-disciplined and/or more senior technical staff, and support staff.
• Oversee that enforce ethical, regulatory, and performance standards. Oversee and manage personnel issues.
• Share authority and accountability for setting, directing, and implementing strategy.
• Oversee, design, and control process/es for supporting delivery of strategic information technology services.
• Monitor and analyze operational metrics. Implement continuous improvement methodologies to include corrective actions, as needed.
• Maintain, establish, and develop new strategic partnerships with executive management, stakeholders, customers, and vendors.
• Participate in development of IT policy and procedures for a specialized university IT department/unit to ensure information security, and IT architecture are in compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements.
• Collaborate with other IT executive leaders to formulate effective IT policies and procedures.
• Manage key portions of departmental IT project portfolio. Documentation: Oversee operational documentation and reporting procedures.
• Participate in training and professional development sessions.

• Responsibilities included but were not limited to: As Director of Enterprise Engagement: Executive oversight of fourteen (14) full-time and thirty-two (32) part-time resources providing desktop, audio-visual, IT training, and Helpdesk services to the University
• As Acting Chief Technology Officer: Executive oversight of the Office of Information Technology business unit with forty-five (45) full time employees and three divisions including Enterprise Engagement, Technology Services (Network, Server, Networked Applications, and Data Center Operations), and Enterprise Applications (ERP) services, and management of the Managed Service Provider
• Supervise and worked with technical staff to plan, design, and manage infrastructure, network, and end user computing systems
• Responsible for operating budget of over $12M
• Develop lifecycle plan for computer systems, network hardware and software, and data center hardware including storage, virtual machine hardware and software, and Voice Over IP systems
• Direct Information Technology support activities and operations in areas of training, web information services, technical support, and documentation
• Collaborate with College Deans and Faculty to implement information technology support services in support of scholarly and academic mission of the University
• Recommend and implement IT policies and best practices and assists in creation and maintenance of IT budget
• Promote incorporation of technology into teaching and research by providing demonstrations, training and maintenance of appropriate hardware and software
• Oversee provision of computing services to students via labs, documentation, and tech support
• Coordinate training, support and documentation for technology applications used by staff in support of the University’s mission
• Represent the University and the IT Department on committees, university-wide task forces, and national conferences
• Member of HBCU CIO cohort sponsored by HP
• Provide Executive Leadership of large multi-million-dollar IT projects to upgrade fiber optic and structured cabling, network and Wi-Fi hardware, computing, and audio-visual technologies
• Responsible for $12.5M project to upgrade network hardware, Wi-Fi expansion indoor and outdoor of nearly 1,000 new devices, upgrade of structured cabling in 50+ buildings
• Define and communicate project milestones and resource allocations to College administration, department leads, support staff, and end users
• Responsible for Desktop Operations, IT Communications, Training, New Student Outreach, and Helpdesk Services
• Serve as University’s Interim Information Security Officer, providing monthly incident reports and annual security plan to Texas Department of Information Resources (TX-DIR)
• Responsible for regular review, maintenance, and upgrade of mission critical components to continuously improve upon business continuity and disaster recovery plans
• Contribute to development and implementation of strategic plans for acquiring and enabling efficient and cost-effective information processing and communication technologies
• Help develop IT Strategic Plan, which resulted in formation of and investment in a comprehensive digital transformation called RENEW 2022

• Responsibilities included but were not limited to: Manage diverse team consisting of fourteen (14) Windows Server, Unix, and Linux System Engineers
• Act as project lead for new and existing IT projects encompassing systems
• Develop professional development plans of positions’ direct reports
• Ensure all data/system backups and archiving are successful and tested
• Establish and maintain delivery of security updates and critical patches to systems, and ensure they are physically secure and hardened
• Implement and maintain a strategic server infrastructure, supporting Information Lifecycle Management methodology
• Make recommendations and provide assistance to Executive Director with budgetary planning, compliance, and purchase of hardware/software related to systems support.

• Responsibilities included but are not limited to: Executive oversight of a team consisting of eight (8) full-time and twelve (12) part-time Desktop Technicians, AV Technicians, and Operations Managers Manage large IT implementation projects related to construction/renovation of Lone Star College-University Park including structured cabling, data networks, and audio-visual technologies.
• Responsible for managing relationship and contractual agreements with network, audio visual, and other technology integrators and service vendors as needed, including development of Statements of Work and review of and recommendations for vendor RFPs
• Responsible for making decisions, providing recommendations, and aiding Associate Vice-Chancellor of Campus Services with budgetary planning, compliance, and purchase of hardware/software related to LSC-University Park support.
• Budgetary oversight responsibilities for technology fund budgets; oversee and direct capital outlay budgeting.

• Responsibilities included but are not limited to: Span of control included management of eight (8) direct-report Desktop Technicians supporting over 850 users in 98 offices throughout the Austin, El Paso, Houston, and San Antonio metropolitan areas
• Oversee all technology-related projects to ensure standards remained consistent
• Act as a customer service liaison between different internal departments, management, and customers.

Responsibilities included but are not limited to:
• Manage a diverse team of seven (7) staff consisting of CCIE, MCSE, Unix, HP OpenView Engineers, and Network Analysts in the remote management of corporate customer network and server infrastructures.
• Assist the IT Director in managing the relationship and contractual agreements with application service providers and vendors as needed.
• Actively and continuously follow Change Management processes and procedures as they relate to customer systems and infrastructure.
• Create and maintain standard Service Level Agreements, to include application, network, and business-centric service availability.
• Act as project lead for new and existing IT projects encompassing networks and systems.
• Ensure all data/systems backups and archiving are successful and tested.
• Establish and maintain delivery of security updates and critical patches to systems, and ensure they are physically secure and hardened.
• Identifying, isolating, and resolving service delivery issues surrounding remote Managed IT Services.
• Manage the processes and procedures that help ensure that all Managed IT Services and SLA’s offered in the contractual Statement of Work were being delivered on-time and defect-free.

• Assigned to the Information Assurance Team at 75th Division Headquarters in Houston, TX
• Duties included but were not limited to: Developed and conducted Information Assurance training for all 75th Division Personnel which consisted of over 500 soldiers
• Supervised, installed, operated, and performed unit level maintenance on multi-function and/or multi-user information processing systems
• Performed analyst and system administrator functions
• Constructed, repaired, and tested computer systems.

Responsibilities included but are not limited to:
• Hardware Setup and Maintenance: Installing, configuring, and maintaining desktop computers, laptops, printers, scanners, and other hardware peripherals.
• Software Installation and Support: Installing, configuring, and troubleshooting software applications, operating systems, and updates. This can include popular productivity suites, specialized software, and operating systems like Windows, macOS, or Linux.
• Troubleshooting Technical Issues: Providing technical support to end-users who are experiencing issues with their desktops, laptops, software applications, or peripherals. This involves diagnosing problems, researching solutions, and implementing fixes either remotely or in person.