Sams' resignation comes amid an IT reorganization that is being implemented on the recommendation of an external consulting firm brought in to audit the university's security after several breaches were discovered between late April and early June this year.

The audit report from Moran Technology Consultants of Naperville, Ill., identified a siloed culture and a quasi-combative relationship between the university's network and computer services groups as reasons for a relative lack of good security practices.

Based on recommendations from the audit, the university began restructuring its central IT group. As part of the effort, the university is assigning formal roles, responsibilities and accountability for those working in its central IT organization. About 90 percent of the staff working in this group are expected to be affected by the restructuring.

The university also plans to deploy real-time and scheduled measures for protecting its systems against viruses on every Windows-based server.

The changes come after the discovery of five separate security breaches, including one that exposed personal information on 137,000 people. The first one was uncovered on April 21, when the FBI informed the university that it had in its possession, disk drives containing patent and intellectual property data from a server at the university's Innovation Center.