> Skip to content
FEATURED:
  • The Evolution of Race in Admissions
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
Sign In
ADVERTISEMENT
News
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Show more sharing options
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Copy Link URLCopied!
  • Print

A Business Professor Turned CIO Practices What He Teaches

By  Jeffrey R. Young
February 26, 2012
Brad Wheeler, chief information officer of Indiana University at Bloomington, has worked out a way to get publishers to lower their per-book costs.
Jay Premack for The Chronicle
Brad Wheeler, chief information officer of Indiana University at Bloomington, has worked out a way to get publishers to lower their per-book costs.

Apple is revered in business circles for its tough bargaining with suppliers to keep down production costs on its popular iPhones and computers. Colleges should emulate that aggressive stance when buying their technology, argues Bradley C. Wheeler, chief information officer at Indiana University at Bloomington.

Mr. Wheeler has spent most of his career as a business professor, and he is applying the same lessons he teaches his executive-MBA students to managing the university’s technology.

THE INNOVATOR: Bradley C. Wheeler, Indiana University

THE BIG IDEA: Encourage colleges to take a more aggressive stance in bargaining with providers to trim costs.

We’re sorry. Something went wrong.

We are unable to fully display the content of this page.

The most likely cause of this is a content blocker on your computer or network. Please make sure your computer, VPN, or network allows javascript and allows content to be delivered from c950.chronicle.com and chronicle.blueconic.net.

Once javascript and access to those URLs are allowed, please refresh this page. You may then be asked to log in, create an account if you don't already have one, or subscribe.

If you continue to experience issues, contact us at 202-466-1032 or help@chronicle.com

Apple is revered in business circles for its tough bargaining with suppliers to keep down production costs on its popular iPhones and computers. Colleges should emulate that aggressive stance when buying their technology, argues Bradley C. Wheeler, chief information officer at Indiana University at Bloomington.

Mr. Wheeler has spent most of his career as a business professor, and he is applying the same lessons he teaches his executive-MBA students to managing the university’s technology.

THE INNOVATOR: Bradley C. Wheeler, Indiana University

THE BIG IDEA: Encourage colleges to take a more aggressive stance in bargaining with providers to trim costs.

Lately, that has meant getting involved in a subject not usually handled by CIO’s: textbooks.

ADVERTISEMENT

The administrator has led a pilot effort at Indiana to broker a deal with publishers that greatly lowers the per-book cost in exchange for a guarantee that every student will buy the e-textbooks they are assigned (by instituting a course-materials fee). Other universities are following Indiana’s lead.

In recent talks, he compares managing college technology to a chess match, with colleges on one side and tech companies on the other. “It is very collective,” he says, and colleges need to work together and look ahead several moves to try to picture what tomorrow’s technology and needs might be.

Collaboration has been his game plan for years. He has led or participated in several efforts by colleges to build their own open-source alternatives to commercial education software. The largest are Sakai for virtual classrooms and Kuali for administrative functions.

The 47-year-old was raised on a farm in a “one-flashing-light, peanut town” of 1,200 people in Oklahoma. His family also owned a local car dealership, and he learned to help out in all areas of the business.

In that small-town environment, he says he learned that “no one’s disposable—you have to make the relationships work over time.”

ADVERTISEMENT

“Some people say I’m anticorporate, but nothing can be further from the truth,” he adds. “I just believe the buyer side has to be organized and work as well as the seller side.”

Brad Wheeler chats with Educause about “The Power of the Network:"

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Technology
Jeffrey R. Young
Jeffrey R. Young was a senior editor and writer focused on the impact of technology on society, the future of education, and journalism innovation. He led a team at The Chronicle of Higher Education that explored new story formats. He is currently managing editor of EdSurge.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
    Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
  • The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
    The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
    Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
    Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2023 The Chronicle of Higher Education
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin