Certified IT Groups (CITGs)

The CUIMC Certified Information Technology Group Leadership Council (CITGLC) is an organization consisting of the chief information officer (CIO) and other senior information technology (IT) leaders from CUIMC. The CITGLC works in partnership with CUIMC leadership to articulate goals, strategies, and priorities for investment in and deployment of technology-based solutions that support the CUIMC mission of teaching, research, public service, and patient care. The CITGLC seeks opportunities to address common IT challenges while respecting the essential independence of CUIMC institutions. The group serves as a conduit for identifying areas where enterprise-wide policies and standards should be developed.

I. Responsibilities

CITGLC responsibilities include the following:

  • Communicate the strategic technology direction of CUIMC through the CITGs
  • Drive engagement with CITGs to develop and materialize technical discussion and direction
  • Provide standard benchmarks for CITGs that can be used to evaluate their technology practices against user needs
  • Identify areas where enterprise-wide standards should be developed and advocate for the development of these standards
  • Solicit and share proposals for addressing infrastructure and operational issues and evaluate alternative approaches to foment collaboration
  • Champion the implementation of selected initiatives across CITGs
  • Form and manage working groups as needed to develop, implement, and evaluate technical solutions proposed or approved for specific problems
  • Collaborate with New York Presbyterian (NYP) on IT-related issues and projects
  • Establish channels of communication with CITGs (email list, online resources, etc.)
  • Represent and advocate for CITG common interests
  • Promote education via mentoring, training, and general knowledge-sharing opportunities

II. Member Requirements

Individuals to be considered for CITGLC membership must be full-time CUIMC employees and should possess:

  1. A good working knowledge of technology
  2. The ability to contribute to campus-wide technology solutions
  3. The role of IT leader and IT decision maker within the area they represent
  4. A background to ensure the CITGLC is balanced to represent all of CUIMC mission areas - Research, Clinical Care, and Education
  5. The ability to consider and balance both the overall interests of CUIMC as well as the area they represent and assess the abilities of CITG’s to support these general interests
  6. The desire and ability to work in a team environment, and to serve in subcommittees as appropriate
  7. The abilty to reliably attend and follow-up on activities using designated alternates as needed
  8. The ability to achieve timely completion of action items

III. Entrance Criteria

Individuals that meet the member requirements are inducted into the leadership Council by the following steps:

  1. A member of the CITGLC nominates an individual
  2. Other members of the CITGLC vote
  3. Nomination is accepted based on a majority vote

IV. Exit Criteria

After appointment as members, individuals remain members of the CITGLC until one of the following occurs:

  1. The CITGLC member serves for over a year, but not more than three years
  2. The individual notifies the chairperson of their desire to retire
  3. The individual “de-facto” retires. De-facto retirement occurs if an individual leaves the medical center, significantly changes position, or any other job change occurs which renders them ineligible, is out on long-term leave for any reason, or is unable to attend at least 70% of Leadership and CITG meetings over a 6-month period
  4. The CITGLC decides at their discretion to ask the individual to retire as a result of the individual’s inability to meet their obligations. At this time, the chairperson will meet with the person who appointed the member to discuss removing the member from the CITGLC, and to identify potential replacements

CITGLC Members

Eric Steinhardt
Director of IT, Department of Pathology and Cellular Biology
Council Co-Chair, CITGLC 

Michael Faucher, MS
Director of Information Systems, Columbia Center for Translational Immunology (CCTI)

David Wentsler, MS
Information Systems Administrator, Department of Ophthalmology 

Sascha Tobacman-Smith
Director of IT, College of Dental Medicine

Brian Thumm
IT Manager EMR & Associate IT Systems, Department of Anesthesiology Admin

Dean James, MIS
Interim Director, Department of Surgery IT

Nish Kamdar
Director, Network Infrastructure of Core Resources East (NYP) 

Eme Ejike
Chief Information Security Officer, CUIMC IT Security