Hector Villicana

CIO & technology executive Higher education Public sector AI

I make university technology work for the people who use it.

For more than 25 years at the University of California, I’ve led the people and systems that faculty teach with, students rely on and researchers build on. Most recently at UC Santa Barbara, I ran a 50-plus person technology organization and led the team that delivered UCSB’s move to Canvas, 8,500 course sites, with no disruption to teaching.

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Executive resume (PDF, 87 KB) Updated
Portrait of Hector Villicana, smiling, wearing a navy blazer and light blue shirt outdoors.

At a glance

Leadership focus
CIO · Deputy CIO · Associate CIO
Most recently
Associate CIO for Instruction & Executive Director, Letters and Science IT, UC Santa Barbara
Location
Goleta, CA · Open to relocation
  • Enterprise IT strategy
  • Building agreement across campus
  • Responsible AI adoption
  • Cybersecurity & risk
  • Student & faculty digital experience
  • Research & instructional IT
  • Service operations
  • 25+ years of technology leadership at the University of California
  • 50+ people on my team, through five directors
  • $5M annual technology budget, approximately
  • Nearly 30,000 users across 55+ departments and units

In a university, no single office can order a change. Deans, faculty and central IT each own part of every decision. My job is to get them aligned, be clear about the tradeoffs, and then deliver what we agreed to.

Hector Villicana

About

I lead technology in higher education, where IT has to earn trust across every school and department.

I find the balance between campus-wide standards and what teaching, research and student services actually need.

At UC Santa Barbara I held concurrent appointments as Associate CIO for Instruction and Executive Director, Letters and Science IT, leading 50+ technology professionals through five directors and managing an approximately $5 million annual portfolio. Before that I spent more than two decades at UC Davis, starting as an IT student worker in 1996, including fourteen years leading help desk and infrastructure services.

Where I focus

  1. Strategy & governance

    Multiyear plans and spending decisions made together with deans, faculty and central IT.

  2. AI adoption & responsible use

    Helping campuses move from AI experiments to everyday use, with clear rules on privacy, security, cost and support.

  3. Cybersecurity & risk

    Security built on ISO 27001 and NIST, explained in terms leaders can act on.

  4. Student & faculty digital experience

    Learning platforms, student success tools, mobile apps and digital forms, plus the technology in 140+ classrooms and labs.

  5. Service operations

    IT support with clear ownership and real measurement, built on ITIL and years of running help desks and infrastructure.

How I lead

  • 50+ people, five directors

    Client success, instructional services, infrastructure, process improvement, and finance and HR.

  • Coaching & succession

    Developing directors, managers and emerging leaders through coaching and succession planning.

  • Represented employees

    Managing represented staff in a unionized public university, with HR and labor partners.

  • Financial stewardship

    An approximately $5 million annual technology portfolio.

  • Procurement & vendors

    Seven-figure RFPs, vendor evaluations and contract negotiations.

  • Federated IT governance

    Portfolio and governance practices that make priorities, costs, risks and capacity visible to executive leaders.

Selected impact

Outcomes at UC Santa Barbara

Each card gives the context, my role and the result. Open “How we did it” for the approach.

Teaching & learning

Directed UCSB’s LMS migration of 8,500 course sites from Moodle to Canvas

  • 8,500 course sites migrated to Canvas
  • Nearly 30,000 users
  • 100% transition, with no stragglers and no instructional disruption
  • 38,000+ course sites archived, preserving historical grades, activity and student work
Context
A campus-wide learning management system transition for nearly 30,000 users.
My role
Executive lead for Letters and Science IT, the unit that delivered the migration; member of the Canvas Transition Steering Committee.

The implementation team received Silver in the Mojgan Amini Operational Excellence Award at the 2024 UC Tech Awards. UC Tech News

Result
A phased two-year rollout, from committee to pilot to a fall launch, that reached 100% transition with no stragglers and no instructional disruption.
How we did it
  • Phased from committee to pilot to summer to the fall launch, with the bulk of migrations just before that fall quarter
  • Coordinated faculty engagement and communications
  • Integrations and accessibility review
  • Training, vendor management and support readiness

Service operations

Unified IT support across 55+ departments

Context
Technology services had developed independently across more than 55 departments.
My role
Executive Director, Letters and Science IT.
Result
Clear ownership, shared priorities and real accountability, without losing the specialized support academic and research units depend on.
How we did it
  • Strengthened service ownership and performance measurement
  • Clearer communication, customer feedback and follow-through
  • Portfolio and governance practices that made priorities, costs and risks visible

Student success

Directed the Salesforce Student Success Hub across more than 50 departments

Context
Advising and student-service processes were fragmented across departments.
My role
Directed implementation, with common governance for ownership, access and data quality.
Result
Advisors working from one system, connected to campus data, with clear rules on who owns and sees what.
How we did it
  • Common governance for ownership, access and data quality
  • Integration requirements and reporting
  • Privacy and operational support

Responsible AI

Served on the UCSB AI Advisory Committee and developed responsible and ethical AI use guidelines

Context
Academic, research and administrative leaders weighing AI strategy, governance and institutional use.
My role
Committee member; developed responsible and ethical AI use guidelines; led the pilot large language model service.
Result
Helped UCSB move from scattered AI experiments to use with clear rules and real support.
How we did it
  • Translated faculty requirements into infrastructure and access models
  • Responsible-use guidance, support practices and service ownership
  • Evaluation measures covering privacy, cybersecurity, cost and sustainability

Cybersecurity & risk

Cybersecurity oversight for five additional academic IT groups

Context
Distributed academic IT organizations supporting 93 percent of UCSB faculty.
My role
Cybersecurity and risk leader for the academic division, reporting risk to the campus CISO.
Result
Directed implementation of University of California security requirements, grounded in ISO 27001 and NIST-based practices, across the academic division.
How we did it
  • Risk assessment, endpoint detection and response, vulnerability remediation
  • Audit response, access governance and procurement review
  • Staff security education, business continuity and disaster recovery

Student digital experience

Championed UCSB’s first enterprise student mobile app

Context
Institution-wide responsibility for instructional technology and the student digital experience.
My role
Executive champion for the app as Associate CIO for Instruction.
Result
UCSB’s first enterprise student mobile application.

Process improvement

Created a process improvement team and led digital transformation through DocuSign

Context
Business and academic offices, including Finance, Human Resources, Administrative Services, the Library, Summer Sessions and academic units.
My role
Created the process improvement team; led the director-level Project Management Office and Process Improvement function and university-wide workflow modernization through DocuSign.
Result
Electronic forms and digital approvals across business and academic offices.
How we did it
  • Process redesign with business and academic offices
  • DocuSign workflows, electronic forms and integrations
  • Communications and adoption support

Also

  • Modernized academic advising.
  • Directed the student IT help desk.
  • Chaired the Letters and Science student technology fee committee.
  • Transformed curriculum planning and budgeting.
  • Co-founded the UCSB Makerspace.

Work together

Two ways to work together

Search committees and institutions need different things. Here is what each can expect, and how to take the next step.

For search committees & executive recruiters

Leadership roles

What I bring

  • Seven years as a divisional technology executive at UC Santa Barbara, partnering with the campus CIO, deans, faculty and researchers.
  • Enterprise delivery: campus-wide Canvas, the Salesforce Student Success Hub across 50+ departments, and an ITIL-based operating model across 55+ departments.
  • Cybersecurity oversight grounded in ISO 27001 and NIST-based practices, and a seat on the UCSB AI Advisory Committee.

Roles I’m pursuing

CIO Deputy CIO Associate CIO

In higher education and the public sector.

Next step

Discuss a leadership role

For institutions, agencies & organizations

Also: AI strategy & advisory

Helping organizations move from AI curiosity to practical, governed, useful adoption.

  • AI strategy & readiness
  • Agentic AI & workflow transformation
  • AI education & executive advisory
  • AI & technology procurement
  • Technology strategy & fractional CIO
Explore AI advisory Schedule an initial conversation

Experience

25+ years across the University of California

University of California titles and dates follow my resume. Select a role on the chart, or open any role below for highlights.

Career, 1996–present
  1. Earlier technology and administrative rolesUC Davis · 1996–2004
  2. Help Desk Manager, LibraryUC Davis · 2004–2010
  3. Director, Help Desk and Infrastructure LeadUC Davis · 2010–2018
  4. Executive Director, Letters and Science ITUC Santa Barbara · 2018–2025
  5. Associate CIO for InstructionUC Santa Barbara · 2021–2025 · concurrent
  6. Independent Technology & AI AdvisorIndependent · 2025–present

  1. –present

    Independent Technology & AI Advisor

    Since 2025: Independent technology and AI advisor to higher education and the public sector, while pursuing my next executive role.

  2. –

    Associate CIO for Instruction

    University of California, Santa Barbara Concurrent appointment

    Student Digital Experience, Enterprise Strategy & Cybersecurity

    Highlights
    • Institution-wide responsibility for instructional technology and the student digital experience, including technology in more than 140 classrooms and labs.
    • Championed UCSB’s first enterprise student mobile application.
    • Created a process improvement team and led university-wide digital transformation through DocuSign with business and academic offices.
    • Cybersecurity and risk leader for the academic division; directed implementation of University of California security requirements, grounded in ISO 27001 and NIST-based practices.

  3. –

    Executive Director, Letters and Science IT

    University of California, Santa Barbara

    Enterprise, Research and Instructional IT Services & Operations

    50+ staff through five directors · ~$5M annual portfolio · 55+ departments and units · nearly 30,000 users

    Highlights
    • Led five directors responsible for Client Success, Instructional Services, Infrastructure, Process Improvement, and Finance and Human Resources.
    • Brought IT services from more than 55 departments into a coordinated ITIL-based operating model, and led a pilot large language model service for researchers.
    • Managed the Campus Office of Software Licensing, a recharge-supported operation exceeding $1M annually.

  4. –

    Director, Help Desk and Infrastructure Lead

    University of California, Davis

    10 direct reports · ~$2M operating budget · 35,000+ users

    Highlights
    • Led service desk, infrastructure, end-user computing, virtualization, and public library and VPN access for more than 35,000 users and patrons.
    • Developed business continuity and disaster recovery plans for critical academic and administrative systems.
    • Led implementation and support of the Alma and Primo SaaS platforms, expanding digital access to scholarly resources.

  5. –

    Help Desk Manager, Library

    University of California, Davis

    Highlights
    • Managed help desk, desktop support, systems administration, infrastructure and public computing services.
    • Expanded virtual computing and software-as-a-service capabilities to improve accessibility, scalability and security.

  6. –

    Earlier technology and administrative roles

    University of California, Davis

    Highlights
    • IT Student Worker, IT Support Technician, Human Resources Web Developer, Lecturer, and Assistant Editor for the Journal of the American Statistical Association.
    • Provided end-user, desktop, systems and web support, and developed web-based services for departmental business processes.

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