Released October 1, 2003

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NEW TECHNOLOGY OFFICERS TO ASSIST
UNIVERSITY'S ACADEMIC DIVISIONS

HATTIESBURG - To assist deans, faculty and staff with information systems and educational technology needs, The University of Southern Mississippi has hired five new College Technology Officers (CTO).

The CTO position was created to provide each of the five new colleges at Southern Miss with dedicated iTech associates. These associates will assess their respective academic division's technology needs and then work with other iTech team members to see that those needs are met.

"Each CTO reports directly to iTech's chief information officer and has dotted line and secondary reporting responsibility to the dean for the college to which the CTO is assigned," said Dr. Angeline Dvorak, vice president for research and economic development at Southern Miss. "Each CTO works with faculty members and staff to understand and evaluate academic information technology needs and strategies for his or her respective college."

More than 40 candidates from across the United States were interviewed, said Tony Brooks, whose Pileum Corporation of Jackson helped conduct the search. "Many were graduates and employees of Southern Miss," Brooks said. "Finalists were interviewed by the college deans so the candidates could be matched to the unique requirements of the college."

The five new officers are as follows:

• Valerie Craig - College of Health. Employed by Southern Miss for six years, Craig has served as director of support services, a Peoplesoft trainer, and an information specialist in the Office of Institutional Research and the College of Health and Human Sciences. Craig was also a coordinator for the university Web redesign project and training specialist in the Instructional Media Unit. She has a bachelor's in computer science from Nicholls State University and 16 years of information technology experience. "We have some gaps in data and information that people on campus need in their offices, and I think this group can help fill in those gaps," Craig said.

• Justin McKenzie - College of Science and Technology. An eight-year resident of Hattiesburg, McKenzie has held a variety of technology positions in various government, public and private sector organizations. Most recently he served as an engineering manager at a large computer OEM manufacturer, where he was responsible for research, development, evaluation and implementation. He received a bachelor's in information systems from Southern Miss and an MBA from William Carey College. "I'm looking forward to bringing the latest technology to the university and maximizing its benefit," McKenzie said.

• Bill Parker - College of Education and Psychology. An employee at Southern Miss, Parker has worked the past three years as a systems administrator designing and deploying e-mail, and Web and network infrastructure servers. Prior to coming to Southern Miss, Parker supported the Physician Practice Management system at the Hattiesburg Clinic. Parker is a graduate of Southern Miss with bachelor's degrees in anthropology and management information systems. "It'll be great for the CTOs to work together to help integrate technology into the colleges and to get the colleges to work together through that," Parker said.

• Kevin Sellers - College of Business and Economic Development. A resident of Hattiesburg with 16 years of information technology experience, Sellers has been with Southern Miss for six years, serving as supervisor of computer resources and instructor of management information systems for the College of Business and Economic Development. Sellers is a graduate of Southern Miss with a bachelor's in computer engineering technology and a master's in business administration.

• Brandon Shoemake - College of Arts and Letters. A Hattiesburg native returning from Denver, Colo., Shoemake has held senior technical/advisory positions at KPMG, BASF, IBM Global Services and Level (3) Communications. His technical experience includes information systems design and management, network systems design and management, fault analysis and disaster recovery planning.

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