Penn State CIO Placed on Leave

Penn State Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer Michael Kubit has been placed on leave, the university said in a brief statement Wednesday night.

The university declined to comment on why Kubit was placed on leave, whether it was paid or unpaid, and how long he’s been on leave.

‘As with any employee, Penn State considers personnel matters to be confidential and we have no additional information to share,’ the statement said.

While Kubit is on leave, Chief Information Security Officer Donald J. Welch is overseeing his duties. The statement noted that Welch, who’s served as CISO for near three years, will “continue to move forward on the critical priorities for the university,” which include responsibilities such as securing information assets, eliminating redundancies, and creating capacity to support innovation.

Earlier this month, Kubit’s office announced an initiative to transform Penn State’s IT operations from ’80 disparate IT units to one cohesive organization.’

Kubit started in his position at Penn State in January 2017 after spending more than 20 years at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

The full university statement is below.

While Michael Kubit is on leave, Donald J. Welch will serve as acting vice president for information technology and chief information officer. Welch has been Penn State’s chief information security officer for nearly 3 years and will continue to move on the critical priorities for the University, such as securing Penn State’s information assets, eliminating redundancies and aligning resources with our mission of outreach, teaching and research, and creating capacity to support innovation.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.