Michael S. Carlin

Dr. Mike Carlin joined UNC Charlotte as Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer (CIO) in 2013, leading a remarkable team of people tasked with operating and enhancing the University’s IT environment. He is responsible for IT strategic planning as well as operations, budgeting, policy development, and overall vision. He has worked in the higher education IT community for over 25 years with a wide range of professional interests, including cloud computing, federated identity management, and policy development.

At UNC Charlotte, Dr. Carlin spearheaded the progression toward a University-wide, blended IT model in 2020. He developed a cloud-first initiative, constructed a sustainable infrastructure plan for the campus, and implemented a new Identity Management strategy to leverage open source technology. Further, he guided the development of a transparent, inclusive IT governance framework and a behavioral competencies model for the IT community.

His education and career began at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) and continued for over 22 years. Dr. Carlin earned his Ph.D. in Information Systems while there, conducting doctoral research of guidelines that would aid in the successful development of cross-cultural e-commerce sites between China and the United States. He also grew his career at UMBC while serving in several different IT roles, including Deputy CIO.

In addition to his role as Vice Chancellor and CIO, Dr. Carlin is an adjunct faculty member in the College of Computing and Informatics and an active member of Educause as a presenter, committee member, and mentor.