Biography

Samantha Singhal is Co-Deputy CIO at the University of Rochester. As a Senior Leader in the Office of the Vice President for IT, she is responsible for information technology planning, HR/administration, IT communications, and the desktop teams that support the executive officers.

Over the past two years, Samantha served as Project Director for the UR Student project, the University’s transition from a 30+ year old mainframe Student Information System to Workday Student. The University of Rochester is the first research-intensive institution live on this platform. UR Student went live with Curriculum Management in December 2019, Records and Advising in February 2020, and Student Finance in July 2020.

Samantha joined the University in 2000 as a programmer/analyst. During her tenure in higher education, she has worked in several IT disciplines, including software development, quality assurance, project management, and communications. One of her first projects was the implementation of PeopleSoft for Human Resources, Payroll, and Benefits processing. Samantha has led the organization’s professional development and diversity and inclusion programs, as well as the development of an institution-wide IT Annual Report and an award-winning information security awareness program. She also played a pivotal role in the development of the FY09-FY13 Information Technology Strategic Plan.

Samantha is actively engaged in diversity and organizational development efforts. She has authored a research bulletin titled “Attract, Retain, and Engage the Best: Building an Inclusive IT Culture through Professional Development” that was published in 2010 by EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research. Samantha has presented nationally on transformational ways to develop people in an organization and represented University IT’s diversity and inclusion program at the University of Rochester’s annual diversity conference. She is currently a member of Project Imagine, a committee charged by the Provost with proposing at least ten “big and bold ideas” by September 1, 2020 that could redefine the University.

Samantha earned her bachelor’s in Business Administration—Computer Information Systems from West Texas A&M University in 1997 and Master of Science in Information Systems Management from the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester in 2000. She is currently serving on the Workday Student User Group Steering Committee.

Samantha is originally from India, but also lived in Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates before coming to the U.S. to pursue undergraduate studies, making her extremely familiar with the experiences of an international student on campus. As a result of those experiences, she is a friendship volunteer for international students with Rochester Global Connections. Samantha enjoys traveling and exploring new destinations with her family.