Tim Winders

Tim Winders headshot

Vice Chancellor of Information Services (VCIS) at Purdue University Northwest

Tim Winders serves as the Vice Chancellor of Information Services (VCIS) at Purdue University Northwest. In his role, Winders provides leadership for the service delivery and integration of information technology across the institution. He provides strategic oversight of campus wide information technology activities and the sponsoring of IT committees. He works with IT service units across campus by delivering direction in preparing PNW in making appropriate choices in new and developing information technologies to foster high quality research learning services that meet curricular and scholarly needs of faculty, students, staff and community.

As VCIS, Winders has implemented IT strategic planning, zero-based budgeting, and IT governance. He established the IT Security department, implemented digital accessibility standards and training, established student employee standards and benchmarks, and hosted the first-ever Northwest Indiana CIO Roundtable at PNW. Winders is an executive sponsor of system-wide IT initiatives and was instrumental in the success of the Purdue System Cloud (PSC) resulting in a system-wide annual savings of over $4M.

Winders represents the University’s information technology interests by serving as a member of the PNW Senior Leadership Team, PNW Web Advisory Committee, PNW University Budget Committee, PNW HLC Resource, Planning and Institutional Effectiveness Committee, PNW Emergency Planning Committee, PNW Strategic Enrollment Management Committee, Purdue IT Operational Oversight Committee and Purdue System-wide Summit Task Force. He chairs both the Chancellor’s AccessAbility Committee and the PNW IT Governance Committee.

Winders has presented to the Association of College and University Telecommunications Administrators (ACUTA), Jenzabar Annual Meeting (JAM), South Central POISE Users Group (SCPUG), Purdue University Northwest Information Services Student Association, Fourth International Conference on Lean Six Sigma for Higher Education, Crowe Horwath Risk Consulting Summit, and RTM Higher Education Congress conferences.

Additionally, Vice Chancellor Winders’ community outreach includes the South Shore Arts Board of Directors, Northwest Indiana Symphony Committee, South Shore Arts Education Committee, and South Shore Arts Finance Committee. He is past president of Levelland Morning Rotary Club, founding member of Youth Orchestras of Lubbock in Lubbock, Texas, and served as President of the YOL Board of Directors.

Prior to PNW, Winders served as Associate Dean of Information Technology at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas. He has more than 30 years experience in technology and business and a successful, demonstrated background with over 25 years executive and hands-on experience in higher education technology management. The solution-oriented enterprise is a result of his visionary leadership.

Winders is a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) candidate in Technology, Leadership, and Innovation at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Indiana. He holds a Master of Science (M.S.) in Business, Information Technology Management and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), in Biology, both from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He may be contacted at winders@pnw.edu.