The University of Cincinnati's School of Information Technology (SoIT) is preparing to announce a historic collaborative partnership with the Greater Cincinnati CIO Roundtable, a unique and collegial forum for chief information officers in the region's largest organizations.
The official announcement, which includes a formal signing, will take place on March 4, 2026, at UC's Teachers Dyer Complex, room 407 (Annie Laws) at 11:30 a.m. This signing event is open to students, faculty, staff and industry professionals from both the CIO Roundtable and SoIT.
The goal of the collaboration, according to SoIT Director Hazem Said, is to close the gap between the classroom and the industry. The partnership is being formed to develop an industry-informed curriculum that empowers today's students, as the IT workers of tomorrow, to advance at a globally competitive level in a fast-changing world.
"The challenge is that industry's needs evolve much quicker than college curriculum," says Said. "This partnership seeks to establish deeper relationships between faculty members responsible for the college curriculum and the industry professionals who understand the evolving industry needs."
It's true that higher education curriculums aren't known for being nimble when it comes to real-time adaptation. But as rapid changes in technology upend our collective sense of normalcy on a near-daily basis, a responsive education that teaches real-world technical content is exactly what future tech leaders need today.
"Both the SoIT and the Cincinnati CIO Roundtable recognized early on that there is a gap between what takes place inside the classroom and what is expected on the job," explains Said. "The intent of the partnership is to eliminate that gap all together. We realized that volunteer activities such as the advisory board, guest speakers and even formal co-op and classroom engagement are not sufficient."
"By entering into a formal partnership, we hope to institutionalize and sustain a structure and processes to continually engage faculty and industry professionals."
This formal partnership has actually been nearly two decades in the making, dating all the way back to 2007 when the SoIT first initiated its industry advisory board, which has met in the fall and spring of each subsequent year. The school has long required students to co-op, too, as well as develop an IT solution for a capstone project evaluated by industry professionals, many of whom also visit SoIT classrooms to provide a professional perspective. And just last year the school hosted its first curriculum symposium - attended by over 80 faculty, staff, industry professionals and students - which discussed the need to eliminate the classroom/workforce gap.
"The CIO Roundtable has been playing a leading role in the Region's IT Talent Pipeline efforts," says Geoff Smith, co-chair of the CIO Roundtable and an architect of the partnership. "Working with higher education, high schools (via INTERalliance) and public sector organizations, we have been very effective at growing the pipeline of local high school students matriculating into IT/analytics majors and subsequently graduating into local IT roles.
"This is a multi-pronged approach to increase industry visibility and presence with students and faculty. We seek to increase student interest and awareness in the wide range of skills and roles in an IT career, refresh and enhance curriculum to better align with industry needs, and develop more hands-on, real-world case studies for class projects."
The March 4 signing event will formalize this partnership and feature words from the CIO Roundtable and UC leadership.
Featured photo at top: School of Information Technology director Hazem Said wearing a sweatshirt with the phrase "Solving Problems with Technology" on the back. Photo by CECH Marketing
