TechEDge | California Community Colleges

Faces Of Technology: Gary Moser

Last Updated on Thursday, 12 August 2010 Written by Jen Gednalske Tuesday, 01 June 2010

Gary Moser, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Sierra College has worn many hats in his lifetime. However, one characteristic has defined most of his jobs: a strong sense of leadership.

Gary has had a long history with the California Community Colleges (CCC). After graduating high school, Gary attended Napa Valley College but wasn’t really sure about what he wanted to do.

He decided to join the Marines. After signing up for service, he was given the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) exam to determine what type of job would best suit his skills. He scored high in electronics and mathematics, so the Marines assigned him to work on mainframe computers.

Prior to this, Gary had not actively been interested in technology and computers. However, his assignment in the military opened a door for him to discover something that interested him and a passion upon which he could build his career.

Because the military offered some funding for his education, Gary decided to continue with his studies at Saddleback College and Irvine Valley College (IVC), the two CCC nearest the now closed El Toro Marine Base in Tustin, CA. He received an Associates of Arts in Business Administration from IVC in 1986.

“I enjoyed the relaxed environment with the high quality education provided by the community colleges,” said Gary. “The smaller classrooms provided better interaction and it was affordable on my military salary.”

Gary served in various roles during his military career including Information Systems (IS) Security Inspector, IS Security Manager, Project Manager and Automated Information Systems Chief for all the aviation units in San Diego, Camp Pendleton and Yuma, Arizona.

After a 20-year career in the military and achieving a Bachelor of Science in Business and a Masters in Educational Leadership, Gary worked as both a college and university instructor and as a private consultant for IT.

Then he took a position at Butte-Glenn Community College District (BGCCD) as the director of Enterprise Networks and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). At that point he also became involved in the Chief Information Systems Officers Association (CISOA). During his time at Butte College, Gary oversaw the implementation of several new technologies and technology design for new campus buildings.

After several years at BGCCD, Gary was looking for a new challenge. “I really like the people at Butte,” he said. “But it was time for another challenge. It was hard to leave. My wife and I really enjoyed living in Paradise while I worked at Butte. So when I transferred to Sierra College, we looked for a place in the foothills nearby and ended up moving to Auburn.”

Gary’s new position at the Sierra College District placed him in charge of all of the information technology operations and management for all four of the districts campuses. Sierra College District is made of the Rocklin main campus and remote campuses located in Roseville, Grass Valley and the newly added Truckee Campus.

Since Gary’s arrival at Sierra College, he has been instrumental in getting a huge number of projects accomplished and started. Some of this long list of projects include getting Banner 8 live online, upgrading the portal, creating a high speed connection from the Roseville campus to the remote campuses in Grass Valley, virtualization of the Data Center, creating a wireless network throughout the district, implementing a Disaster Recovery Plan that has reduced recovery time from days to hours and will implement People Admin for Human Resources to track employees and attract new hires.

He also has several current projects in the works including implementing online software that will track degrees and courses for students called Degree Works, desktop virtualization, automating desktop management, upgrading to Voyager Library and creating a single sign-on solution (SSO) for the campus.

With so many projects in the works, budget cuts are a concern for the campus. “I’m hopeful that budget cuts will not constrain the projects we have currently on the table,” Gary said. “We have accomplished so much and the projects on the table will help further reduce campus costs if we can fund them to completion.”

For the last year, Gary has also served as president of CISOA and finds that his military training has given him a certain synergy within that position. CISOA brings together the CIS leaders across all the CCC campuses and districts to exchange information on bleeding-edge technology, security, and technology solutions.

“CISOA is an excellent way for leaders across the system to get together to share and provide help that improves technology at individual campuses and across the system as a whole,” Gary said.

Part of leadership of CISOA requires collaboration between CISOA members and the CCC Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) Technology, Research and Information Systems division headed by Vice Chancellor Patrick Perry to research and define solutions that may be applicable systemwide. CISOA often reports to Catherine McKenzie, Director of the Technology Unit for the CCCCO. CISOA also provides reports to the Systemwide Architecture Committee (SAC) and the Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Committee (TTAC).

Gary’s service in the Marines has helped define his sense of leadership and direction when it comes to working within the California Community Colleges system although the two organizations operate in a very different manner.

“Culturally, the military is very different from the CCC,” Gary explained. “In the military, decisions were made from the top down and everything moved forward quickly. Working at the community colleges is a collaborative experience. Decisions must be made considering all stakeholders involved and are discussed with great depth before moving forward.”

Gary scuba diving on a family vacation in Hawaii in 2005.

“However, the training I received in the Marines prepared me for the requirements of my leadership position within the CCC. In the military, you are always being groomed to advance to the next level through developing maturity, responsibility and success. That is leadership training that you can take with you wherever you go.”

In his spare time, Gary enjoys swimming, waterskiing and traveling, particularly to Hawaii. He has visited all of the islands but his favorite is Kauai.

Gary lives in Auburn with his wife, Nanette. His son, Joshua, is finishing Sierra College and transferring to California State University, Chico to major in business. His daughter, Marla, lives in San Diego and works full time at the Rady Children’s Hospital.<>

Jen Gednalske is a writer and editor for TechEDge
and a project manager for the California Virtual Campus and CCC Technology Center.