Five questions with Ilya Yakovlev

UW-Parkside CIO Ilya Yakovlev

The University of Wisconsin-Parkside's new Chief Information Officer is Ilya Yakovlev. He returns to Wisconsin after five years in information management at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. Ranger Today asked him about his career, goals for his new position, and his leisure pursuits.

Ranger Today: Give a quick synopsis of your professional career--where you've been, what you've done, the issues you've dealt with, and how your experiences have prepared you for working at UW-Parkside?

Yakovlev: My career started at the University of Wisconsin-Superior where I also received my undergraduate degree. I worked as an applications developer and later as a supervisor of developers for 10 years. I then took the position of director of the Center for Information Systems and co-CIO at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota. I served in that position for five years before coming to UW-Parkside. I hold a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in Computer Information Systems from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. In all of my positions, I have particularly enjoyed implementing new systems (such as unified communications, an FAQ system, and others) that were of immediate help to the users.

RT: Is there a professional accomplishment of which you're particularly proud?an award, a commendation?

Yakovlev: More than one of my past co-workers commented how well I brought groups together and that together we took good care of our users. I certainly hope to keep that streak going.

RT: What do you see as your immediate priorities for this position?

Yakovlev: My immediate goal is to evaluate and quantify the services that Campus Technology Services (CTS) provides and the resources that support them. There are also immediate needs in the areas of classroom and lab support as well as in other areas and a number of key projects including compliance with credit card security requirements.

RT: What are your long term goals at UW-Parkside?

Yakovlev: My ultimate goal is for CTS to become an advisor to anyone on campus who has a technology need, whether or not we would provide a particular service internally or if we would facilitate a new service in the "Internet cloud." We would also continue to provide quality services and be highly valued by the campus.

RT: What are your favorite leisure activities? What are we most likely to find you doing during your time away from work?

Yakovlev: My family and I love to travel. Earlier this year, we went to Taiwan and later to Finland and to Russia. Our children are becoming world travelers too and at the age of 3 and 4 they have already visited 5 countries. We are also looking forward to rediscovering Milwaukee, Madison, and Chicago now that we live in the area.

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ABOUT THIS STORY:

Story Status: Archived
Publish date: 10/2/2012

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