UNC-Chapel Hill has hired Mark Hoeting for a new $275,000-a-year technology post despite a 2019 finding that he steered more than $5 million in university purchases to a vendor while romantically involved with the company's sales representative. Hoeting starts October 5 as senior associate chief information officer, a role overseeing important technology services at the university.
The ethics finding traces back to Hoeting's previous job as vice president for Information Technology and chief information officer at Georgia Tech, a position he resigned from in 2019 with a two-sentence resignation letter, following a University System of Georgia ethics finding into his conduct, according to the Raleigh News & Observer. State investigators concluded Hoeting violated ethics policy by directing more than $5 million in technology purchases toward a vendor whose representative he had dated, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Per the News & Observer, Hoeting's relationship with the vendor's sales representative began in 2015, turned romantic in 2016, and lasted about a month in that romantic phase, according to Hoeting's own account; Georgia Tech's roughly $5 million in purchases tied to that vendor took place in 2017, and he also recommended the vendor to other university-system and government offices. University System of Georgia investigators were unable to determine whether Georgia Tech overpaid for the equipment it bought.
How the Ethics Case Unfolded
The path to that 2019 finding took years. Internal whistleblowers at Georgia Tech first raised concerns about Hoeting's vendor relationship through the university's ethics hotline around 2017, but campus investigators initially found no violation, the AJC's reporting states. It wasn't until a second complaint went directly to state system administrators in August 2018 that the matter drew scrutiny; employees had reported noticing unusual vendor access, altered negotiation dynamics, and an absence of the discounts the university typically received.
During the state investigation, Hoeting claimed he had disclosed the personal relationship to his supervisor. Investigators found no records or employee recollections confirming that disclosure ever happened, the AJC reported. Swant himself had already been fired in July 2018 over a separate vendor conflict, after investigators found he sat on the paid board of a university software vendor.
A Rocky Final Stretch at Georgia Tech
Hoeting's last weeks as Georgia Tech's CIO were also marked by a separate crisis. He was forced to issue a public apology after a central web application security flaw exposed the personal data of up to 1.3 million Georgia Tech faculty, staff, students, and applicants, according to SecureWorld. That breach was the university's second major data exposure within a 12-month span. Georgia Tech went on to name former U.S. Navy Rear Admiral and GTRI chief of staff James McGarrah as interim CIO in July 2019; he would support current leaders and help implement campus strategic projects, per EdScoop.
The fallout from Hoeting's case also helped reshape ethics rules across the Georgia system. Following the 2018 vendor probes involving Georgia Tech administrators, the University System of Georgia Board of Regents updated its ethics policy that October to bar employees involved in vendor selection or oversight from taking compensation or employment from those vendors, according to the Georgia Tech Office of the Provost. The revised policy also required higher-level administrative review of compensated outside activities for certain officials and employees, including direct reports and vice presidents or higher.
From Georgia Tech to a New Chapter
In February 2020, the Atlanta-based digital marketing and technology agency Ammunition hired him as its Chief Innovation Officer, a role created specifically to build the firm's higher education practice and have him lead technology strategy and business development in that sector, according to Business Wire. Before his Georgia Tech tenure, Hoeting held earlier senior technology roles at Arkansas State University and Georgia State University.
UNC's Decision to Hire Him Anyway
At UNC-Chapel Hill, the hiring decision rested with Vice Chancellor for Information Technology J. Michael Barker, who led the national search for the senior associate CIO for core services position. Barker has served as UNC's permanent CIO since February 2020, after leading ITS initiatives as interim vice chancellor the year before, according to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Per the News & Observer, Barker said UNC considered Hoeting's reported ethics history during the selection process and that Hoeting's experience and aptitude stood out among a highly qualified candidate pool.
UNC's own procurement rules will now apply directly to Hoeting's work. Under UNC-Chapel Hill Policy 1211 on Avoiding Vendor Conflicts of Interest, university employees are barred from letting financial or personal considerations compromise, or appear to compromise, their objectivity in purchasing equipment or services. The university also updated its broader employee Conflict of Interest policies this past April.
The News & Observer reported that Hoeting led a digital transformation portfolio valued at more than $450 million at Georgia Tech and has advised technology leaders at research universities and national laboratories, alongside earlier senior technology roles at Georgia State University and Arkansas State University. The outlet said it attempted to reach Hoeting for comment but had not received a response in time for publication.
