The NIU community is invited to meet finalists for the position of vice president of information technology and chief information officer at open forums beginning today.

In addition to the general campus forums, each candidate will spend two days meeting with a variety of campus constituencies, including student leaders, commissions and councils, deans, ITS staff, NIU President Doug Baker and his cabinet as well as the CIO search committee.

NIU’s CIO position was created by and will report directly to president Baker.

The CIO will direct the planning and implementation of enterprise IT systems in support of the university’s learning mission and business operations with an emphasis on cost effectiveness and service quality, as well as education, research, outreach and business development.

The first candidate, Brett Coryell, will appear from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. today in the Illinois Room at the Holmes Student Center.

Coryell is deputy chief information officer at Emory University, a position he has held since 2007.

The second candidate, R. David Crain, will appear from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Monday in the Clara Sperling Sky Room of the Holmes Student Center.

Crain is assistant provost and chief information officer at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

The third candidate, Sharon P. Pitt, will appear from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Feb. 14 in the Sky Room. Pitt is interim deputy CIO at George Mason University.