Cathy Bates

Cathy has 30 years of experience in higher education with a strong focus on strategic planning, governance, and initiatives that transform academic, administrative and research capabilities. Prior to joining Vantage, she held CIO, CISO, and other leadership positions at regional and flagship universities.

At Vantage, Cathy works directly with IT and institutional leaders on large, mission-focused projects including strategic planning, organizational assessments, data governance and IT governance. She has extensive experience in institutional processes and information security and enjoys the challenge of creating programs that both protect and enable the use of data. She also brings a deep understanding and passion for creating IT governance frameworks that are engaging and support institutional objectives. Her project approach is strategic, collaborative, and inclusive, leading to actionable tools and roadmaps that reflect the needs of the institution.

Throughout her career, Cathy has been actively involved in mentoring and bringing people together to share experiences. She enjoys writing about leadership and working with individuals to help prepare them for leadership roles. She initiated the Vantage Leadership Lounge Program that works with over 20 well-known higher education CIOs in a co-mentoring model to bring current and future leaders together to learn from one another.

She is a longtime member of EDUCAUSE, serving on security professionals and annual conference committees, co-chairing the HEISC committee, presenting at conferences and contributing articles and knowledge resources, including the IT Governance Toolkit. Cathy is currently a member of the EDUCAUSE Corporate Engagement Advisory Committee which advises on strategic directions for corporate engagement programming, events, publications, and resources developed to support and evolve the higher education technology market.

Cathy holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Computer Science and a Master of Education in Secondary Education and attended the Women’s Management Institute of Higher Education Resource Center (HERS).