Abstract
The University of Memphis created a vice presidential level chief information officer (CIO) position effective July 1, 1995, to serve as the institutional policy officer for information technology (IT). The new organization brought the units of academic and administrative computing together with telecommunications and networking. During the first year of operation the CIO introduced a new governance structure for campuswide IT decision-making, developed an IT strategic planning and management process for the institution, and began to restructure the existing information systems (IS) units to support the operation of a 21st century infrastructure. Infusing principles of a learning organization was a paramount goal in the development of all new processes. This paper describes what was done in the first year and further steps that are needed to bring about truly transformative change both within the IS units and beyond.