Institutional & Operational Parameters
Live Evaluator
IT Team Size (Direct Techs + Lead)
3 staff
Tuition Benefit Lock-in Horizon
24 months
Current Imposter / Stress Rating
88 / 100
Primary Career Ambition
Technical SysAdmin / NetOps
MSP Delegated Capabilities
Upcoming Institutional Audit Demands
Transition Telemetry & Decision Synthesis
Deterministic Score
Top Recommended Strategic Pathway
Negotiated Interim Director with Expanded MSP Security SLA & SysAdmin Upskilling Stipend
Safeguards your $35k/year spouse tuition benefit without taking personal legal/audit liability. Demands the college expand the MSP agreement to include cyber insurance verification and GLBA attestations while funding 5 hours/week on-the-clock technical certifications.
Institutional Leverage Summary
Tuition benefit valued at ~$35k/yr; declining director role without counter-proposal risks replacement, while accepting raw role creates unbuffered audit exposure.
Small Higher-Ed IT & Cybersecurity Audit Checklist
Common vulnerabilities that catch newly promoted small-shop IT Directors unprepared during Cyber Insurance renewals & GLBA reviews.
4-Pathway Counter-Proposal Decision Matrix
Tailored strategic negotiation plays for navigating the retiring boss's director vacancy without sacrificing career or mental health.
Tuition Benefit Leverage & Compensation Normalizer
Quantifies the exact total economic value of your position to prevent premature departure while spouse is enrolled.
Annual Base Salary (Current)
$62,000
Standard small higher-ed IT supervisor baseline
Tuition Remission Value (Per Year)
$35,000
Spouse undergraduate/graduate tuition waiver value
Total Effective Comp Package
$97,000 / yr
Requires a $110k+ commercial offer to break even after taxes
Tactical Takeaway: Leaving this job immediately forfeits up to $70,000 in net education value over the next 24 months. Therefore, the goal is not to quit today, but to negotiate structural shields (Interim status + expanded MSP SLA) so you can ride out the 24 months safely with zero after-hours homework panic.
30 / 60 / 90-Day Small-Shop Governance Roadmap
Step-by-step checklist to establish boundaries, transfer risk to the MSP, and document operational stability.
Days 1 – 30: Boundary Setting & MSP Audit Ingestion
- Formally request a comprehensive Network & Security Topology Audit from the current MSP.
- Revoke permanent Global Admin roles in M365; implement Privileged Identity Management (PIM) with Break-Glass accounts.
- Document that MSP owns after-hours server alerting and cyber incident initial response.
Days 31 – 60: Institutional Compliance & Cyber Insurance Review
- Pull current Cyber Insurance renewal questionnaire; have MSP technical leads complete section 3 (MFA, Immutable Backups).
- Present an "IT Operating State of the College" 2-page brief to the VP/President clarifying third-party dependency.
- Schedule 5 hours weekly on official calendar for dedicated technical labs/certifications (Network+, CCNA, or Azure AZ-104).
Days 61 – 90: Steady-State Equilibrium & 24-Month Exit Horizon
- Transition junior techs into explicit tier-1/tier-2 ticket leads with standard knowledge-base runbooks.
- Lock in quarterly MSP executive review cadence to guarantee vendor accountability.
- Maintain quiet, reliable stability while fulfilling 24-month tuition benefit milestone.