Marisa Benson

Marisa Benson

Marisa Benson is an Associate Vice President and University Privacy Officer. She is also serving as the Interim head of IT Operations in the Division of Information Technology where she oversees the IT Service Desk; Desktop, Lab and Classroom Support; Printing Operations and Multimedia Production. In her primary role, she is responsible for business strategies, policies, and procedures designed to protect the personal data of NIU's students, employees, retirees and alumni. This requires a comprehensive and current knowledge of state, federal and international laws as well as general knowledge of information security policies and controls.

She is also accountable for designing and implementing IT processes that begin with service design and strategic governance, continue through a well-defined and consistently-practiced project management methodology, and culminate in a transparent and data-driven process for service transition and operations. Marisa leads the effort to manage NIU’s enterprise IT project portfolio, following best practices in both project and service management.

In her role, Marisa manages DoIT’s full-time project managers, service managers, training and testing specialists, and marketing and communication staff. In addition, she works with IT professionals across campus to create a collaborative environment of IT support for all of NIU’s students, faculty and staff.

Marisa came to NIU from Emory University in Atlanta in 2014, where she worked for nearly thirty years in positions including application development, system administration, instructional technologies, project management, and IT service management. She has earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Duke University, a Master’s in Historic Preservation from Georgia State University, a Master of Science degree in the History of Science and Technology from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Juris Doctor from Georgia State University.

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