CSM Welcomes Valarie Burks as Associate Vice President and Chief Information Officer

The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) announces that Valarie Burks has joined the college as associate vice president of information management and chief information officer (CIO). Burks comes to CSM with more than 26 years in the private and public sector handling the successful delivery of IT programs and operational services.

"It is an honor and privilege to serve as the College of Southern Maryland’s CIO,” Burks shared. “I am excited to join this awesome CSM family and look forward to leading our strategic and transformational technology solutions as we enhance our student’s experiences in pursuit of their educational goals.”

Burks served as the chief information officer for the NASA Office of Education, providing shared information technology (IT) services across 10 NASA Centers and to thousands of customers external to NASA. In addition, Burks was the chief information security officer at NASA and US Department of Agriculture, building and developing programs to define and execute the strategic, tactical, and operational direction for enterprise IT services, secure networks, and products. She successfully led organizations that faced challenges that parallel that of higher education institutions including remote/distance learning, student/user success focused initiatives, privacy, growing security threat compositions, sustainable funding, strategic planning and communication strategies.

Burks received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and her master’s in Computer Systems Management from University of Maryland, University College. She participated in American University’s Executive Leadership Program and Harvard’s Women’s Leadership Forum.

“I have a personal appreciation for the value of community colleges, having taken several courses at my local community college, and strive to provide an innovative, inspiring, and encouraging learning environment that prepares all our students for success in their future endeavors,” she said.