CSCU technology committee names interim CIO, orders AI and security policy drafts and vows fixes after Dec. 19 silencing

The Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) Technology Committee introduced Dr. Michael Mondrain as interim chief information officer, received updates on rewritten generative‑AI and security policies, and reviewed a postmortem of a Dec. 19 meeting in which several regents and guests were unable to participate because of technology failures.

Regent Yang, committee chair, opened the discussion by asking the committee to add two items to the agenda and to approve minutes from the Nov. 13, 2024, meeting; both motions passed by voice vote. Yang then introduced the principal topics for the meeting and asked Lloyd to introduce the interim CIO.

The nut graf: Committee members said the Dec. 19 disruption — the second major technology incident in a year, according to committee remarks — interfered with public discourse and the board’s duties. The committee heard both immediate operational fixes and a timetable to circulate clearer, simplified policies on generative AI and a security standard labeled I004.

Dr. Michael Mondrain, introduced as interim CIO, corrected that he had been deputy CIO at Berkeley (not CIO), said he has previously worked at Rutgers and UConn, and told the committee the two policies had been rewritten to use less technical language. "I will share a draft as soon as the last set of people weighed in on them," Mondrain said; he estimated drafts would be ready in "another week or two." He said both the generative‑AI policy and the security policy I004 are currently under review by the system’s CIOs and CISOs.

On the Dec. 19 interruption, Regent Yang said the committee found the event "wildly inappropriate" and said it was "appalling" that people were silenced during the meeting. Yang and other committee members said the incident impeded the board’s ability to conduct its business and hear speakers, including union members and ex officio participants.

Mondrain described steps taken after the incident: assembling a written reference or design document for meeting setups, establishing a designated on‑site "incident" or "event" commander for each meeting, and sharing checklists and expectations across campuses so the designated person can validate configurations and make realtime decisions. "I cannot promise you that…there will never be a hiccup," Mondrain said, "My goal is to make the incidence of said problems as small as practical and to make recovery as quick as practical." He added that when necessary the designated on‑site person may be pulled from another campus if local expertise is insufficient.

Committee members expressed support for the plan while noting frustration that similar problems had recurred. One member said promises had been made previously to avoid repeat incidents and that the committee expects reliable execution going forward.

Formal actions taken in the open session included approval of the amended agenda (which added the two items discussed), approval of the Nov. 13, 2024, meeting minutes, and a motion to move into executive session under the Connecticut General Statutes cited by the chair; the committee voted in favor of each motion by voice vote. The chair announced the executive session would include CFO Blanchard, CIO Mondrain and General Counsel Buffkin, that no votes would be taken in executive session, and that the only action following executive session would be the chair’s declaration of adjournment.

The committee also reviewed and confirmed its 2025 meeting dates for the technology committee, which the chair said had been posted to committee calendars and the committee website.

Ending: The committee moved into the announced executive session; the open portion of the meeting concluded with the chair asking staff to stop the livestream. No further action was announced in the public record.