Courtesy of OSU-
Mike Hofherr is the interim chief information officer for OSU while the university searches for a permanent replacement for Kathy Starkoff.
The Ohio State Chief Information Officer has resigned after five years, a tenure that included a data breach scandal that jeopardized the identities of 760,000 people.
OSU Chief Information Officer Kathy Starkoff will work on special projects for OSU for a year, though, including a potential health care information technology collaboration, according to a statement emailed to The Lantern by OSU assistant vice president of media and public relations Gayle Saunders.
Starkoff notified OSU Provost Joseph Alutto of her decision June 21, the statement said.
Starkoff, OSU’s chief information officer since 2008, “leads and oversees the delivery of the university’s information technology strategy, architectural design, core infrastructure, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and learning technologies,” according to the Office of the Chief Information Officer website.
Mike Hofherr, associate vice president for Distance Education and eLearning, will be in charge of the OCIO while OSU searches for a replacement for Starkoff.
Starkoff’s current salary is $319,908. Hofherr’s salary is $169,830, and details are still being finalized regarding any salary changes as he assumes the position of interim chief information officer, Saunders said in an email.
During Starkoff’s time as chief information officer, the university revealed the then-largest data breach in higher education history. On Oct. 22, 2010, OSU discovered that a server, which falls under the responsibilities of the OCIO, had been breached and the identities of about 760,000 people had been jeopardized.
OSU notified university affiliates on Dec. 15, 2012 that a hacker had accessed the server, which contained names, dates of birth, addresses and Social Security numbers.
Starkoff, however, did not have any email records containing the phrase “data breach” before Dec. 5, 2010, according to documents obtained by The Lantern through open records requests at the time.
Starkoff also managed the conversion to semesters and the Digital First Initiative, which increases the use of technology for teaching purposes, during her time as CIO.
Prior to OSU, Starkoff was the group vice president and chief technology officer for Limited Brands. She has also worked at IBM and Finance One, among other places.
