Mike Chambers, the Office of Continuous Improvement’s program manager, will retire from Boise State on Sept. 15.
Chambers’ Boise State journey began in the 1990s as a financial aid counselor — a role he landed after responding to a newspaper ad. Though he left to build a successful career in programming and project management, he always hoped to return after speaking with a career counselor about what his dream job would look like. In 2017, he did just that, joining the Office of Continuous Improvement with a vision to serve students and support the university’s mission.
At a time when the office was shifting from Oracle support to project-based work, Chambers brought structure, strategy and a people-first mindset. He helped create frameworks for project work, cross-train staff and shift the team toward a consultative approach. His leadership was critical in major campus initiatives like the Oracle Cloud transition to HCM, the Benefits Employee Self Service rollout and the Bronco Hub Redwood upgrade.
One of his standout contributions was streamlining the quarterly patch testing process for Bronco Hub — reducing testing time from two weeks to two days and improving campus-wide engagement in the process.
As he moves into retirement, Chambers looks forward to applying his skills in a new way. An artist at heart, he plans to focus on painting and digital art — and explore the next chapter with creativity and curiosity.
In the words of colleagues
“Mike Chambers is one of a kind. He leads with his heart and truly cares about people, which is not to say he won’t say the tough things in a meeting — that thing no one else will say. When he speaks people listen. As someone who often had to stand up in front of people either in person or on Zoom and lead conversations, I always appreciated that he had an opinion and was happy to share — even when it was completely different than mine. That is how we all learn, when people are willing to engage in discussion and bring different viewpoints! Thanks for being uniquely you and adding so much to our lives over your tenure at Boise State. You will be missed, and we all wish you joy in retirement.”
- Jo Ellen DiNucci, Boise State’s former senior associate vice president and deputy chief financial officer
“Mike has been an invaluable member of OCI, University Financial Services and Boise State. He consistently is putting Boise State first and has built strong relationships both internally at Boise State and externally with other higher ed institutions. He has an ability to bring people together to solve complex problems and has successfully led numerous OCI projects throughout his tenure. We will truly miss Mike’s collaborative spirit, his team-oriented approach, his problem-solving skills and his continuous improvement mindset. Thank you Mike for all that you have done throughout the years. Best wishes on your well-deserved retirement!”
- Gorane Stormoen, executive director of the Office of Continuous Improvement