2014 Penny Crane Award Recipient – Cynthia Dooling
Cynthia (“Cindy”) Dooling’s warm, hospitable nature; her professional excellence; and her passion for collaborating with peers and nurturing younger colleagues have given her a special place in the hearts of SIGUCCS members.
Cindy is presently serving as Interim Chief Information Officer at Pima Community College, Tucson, Arizona, having deferred her retirement at the request of the college administration. Cindy began her professional career at Pima over 30 years ago as a student volunteer while she was studying Computer Science. She has held nine different positions at Pima, from entry level as a student aide to the highest level as Vice Chancellor for IT; and she has also served as an adjunct faculty member. She has an impressive history of accomplishment at Pima, and is probably one of very few IT professionals who have made an entire career at one institution.
Cindy has been active in SIGUCCS since the mid-1990s. She has given presentations at a number of SIGUCCS conferences, and in addition has served as Chair for Vendor Contributions at the 2006 and 2007 management symposia; Evaluations Chair for the 2007 fall and 2011 conferences; Local Events Chair for the 2008 management symposium; Session Chair Coordinator for the 2010 fall conference; Program Track Chair for the 2009, 2011 and 2012 management symposia; and Program Chair for this year’s management symposium. In addition, she has been a regular contributor to discussions on the SIGUCCS mailing list.
Cindy’s contributions to our profession extend beyond her home institution and SIGUCCS. As a volunteer for EDUCAUSE she has served in multiple capacities including program committee reviewer (multiple years), EDUCAUSE Review Online reviewer, West/Southwest Regional Conference program committee member, and EDUCAUSE Connect committee member; she is also a regular contributor to EDUCAUSE online discussions.
Beyond her official leadership roles, Cindy is dedicated to supporting our profession via career and leadership development of IT professionals through both SIGUCCS and EDUCAUSE.
Quotes
“Cindy adds a charm and character to any . . . effort that makes that work lighter and easier.”
“Cindy is a dedicated professional who is an excellent role model for her SIGUCCS colleagues in terms of her career accomplishments and development, and her enthusiastic volunteerism.”
“Cindy is a rare person who is genuine, caring, creative, selfless, honest, trustworthy, and a leader.”
“Cindy . . . is a natural people networking person who fits well the Penny Crane model of bringing people into the field and providing them support.”
“Cindy’s legacy of contributing to our profession, the many folks she has hired, mentored, supervised, and helped further their career are just a few of the reasons I wholeheartedly support and endorse her for this award.”
“Cindy Dooling has set an exemplary standard as a higher education IT leader in her many years of service and has given back to the community in many ways, always with thoughtful intent and cheerfulness.”