Twenty years web development experience in the higher education environment
Specialize in the strategic integration of separate web sites into a unified and
more effective overall web presence
Expert in project development based on strict web standards
Experience in building web teams from the ground up
Demonstrated progressive growth in leadership positions
Employment
Director of Web Development
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Division of Marketing & Communications, Texas A&M University
Recruited from Computing & Information Services to build a modern web team at the university level, something
which had never existed at Texas A&M. This process included hiring and training team members, modernizing the
hardware architecture hosting our web services, introducing and adopting recognized best practices, and building out
the actual web platforms.
Rebuilt the university website, then proceeded prioritize the related projects that would define the central
university web presence. This would include static content sites such as the president's website and visitor center
as well as complex web applications such as the events calendar and campus news site. (More
complete list below...) I recognized importance of mobile before most others and incorporated not only a university mobile site but
also a mobile-friendly responsive view on all new projects.
The major challenge was instilling into management, site owners, and other stakeholders the idea that simply building stand-alone websites
wasn't enough, that we instead needed to create a truly professional organization and implement a strategy
of integrating data from across campus into a comprehensive web presence. In doing so the web team had to implement
and deploy modern practices from scratch along the way - coding, version control, server virtualization,
content management, etc. This proces was complicated by several changes in campus and departmental
administrative leadership, forcing us to re-educate decision makers and re-justify our approach in
light of changing strategic visions and priorities.
After 3 years in the Division I inherited management of overall departmental IT support, including
LAN, desltop, and email support. Each of these was in the same state that the web presence originally was,
so we implemented a similar process of incorporating modern practices for remote updates, platform
standardization, remote monitoring, etc.
Lead Software Application Developer
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Computing & Information Services, Texas A&M University
Began as entry-level webmaster, but consistently learned new skills and took on new responsibilities. After three
years I took over as the team leader for all internal web development for the department and built a solid team that was
able to take on any project assigned to us.
Entered the department when there was little leadeship or departmental vision in the web arena. Our team built the
departmental web presence from a single site to one which eventually included approximately twenty individual sites and
applications
Balanced the roles of project management, lead programmer, team captain/coach/mentor, and frequent
bouts as system administrator.
Research Assistant
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Department of Humanities in Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center
Created and maintained the departmental web site. This marked the first time the department had ever
had a web presence. I was given decision-making authority not only over the creation of the site,
but content, purpose, and implementation as well.
Desktop publishing of scholarly Newsletter. At my suggestion we began publishing it to the web
as well as maintaining a printed edition.
Provided general computer support for the department
Assisted department faculty with design and implementation of research projects
Organized quarterly "Medicine and Humanities Consultation" conference series.
Academic Assistant
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Athletic Department - Men's Basketball, Texas A&M University
Duties included monitoring study hall, tracking team members' academic progress, leading group and
individual tutoring sesions, and serving as a mentor for students needing special assistance.
Spent extra hours working as a supplemental academic advisor, which allowed me to learn many of
the unwritten rules for how a university operates. This gave me a broader background upon which to make
decisions in future positions, and the understanding the challenges that exist within the larger
environment.
This job offered exposure not only to teaching and leading a group, but also gave me access to observe
the traits and methods of coaching in a highly competitive environment.
Teacher
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College Station Sister City Program
Taught community education class of beginning Russian language, preparing a group of high school students
for trip to Russia
My previous experience travelling to Russia allowed me to not only fill the role of formal instructor,
but to also offer advice and guide the students for what to expect on their own trip. It was a good
introduction to leadership being made of up more than just your formal duties.
Education
Texas A&M University
Received M.A. in History, August 1993
Master's Thesis: Soviet-American Relations in Light of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident
Graduated with 3.30 overall GPA
Texas A&M University
Received B.A. degrees in physics and Russian language, May 1991
Graduated with 3.06 overall GPA
Leadership Training
Emerging Supervisors Program
Texas A&M University,
Certificate program consisting of eleven classes designed to teach the principles of good management.
Leadership Institute
Texas A&M University,
Seven day program of instruction in leadership and team building. Leadership
Institute is the university's flagship program for supervisor development.
Group Leadership Forum
Texas A&M University,
Four-day program introducing participants to the complexities of leading project teams and work groups at
Texas A&M University. Selected through recommendation/nomination of division vice president.
Project Management
Texas A&M Univesity,
Four-class program designed to introduce IT staff to project management. Included sections on
communication, leadership, risk & quality, as well as a two-day overview of the PMBOK
methodology.
International Experience
Moscow Institute of Communications
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Selected to attend summer seminar in Moscow, USSR
Topics included Russian language, history, and culture
Computer Skills
Web Development
XHTML, HTML5, CSS2/3, XML, responsive design, microformats, semantic web, Web 2.0 / social media strategies,
web analytics, content management
Web Programming
PHP, SQL, Cascade Server CMS, Wordpress platform, version control
Operating Systems
Linux, Microsoft Windows
System Administration
Unix/Linux - LAMP stack, Google Search Appliance
Major Web Sites
Texas A&M University Home Page This became my top priority after joining the office. After years of neglect
the web team was asked to rebuild the public face of the university. This involved the adoption
of a new branding effort and well as the complete rewrite of every page on the site. Subsequent versions
incoporated resonsive design to make the site friendly for mobile devices.
Texas A&M Today This site redefined how campus news and information is disseminated. The project consists of
the website which is updated on a daily basis and an email newsletter that gets published once
per week. Special care was taken to make sure the newsletter was built to be mobile friendly.
Campus Web Calendar The university was without a true events calendar for several years. We based our
project on an open source project and built in our own styles and customizations. Feeds from the calendar
application are shared with the university home page, Facebook site, and many departmental sites across
campus. It is now a cornerstone of our approach toward an integrated web presence. A separate CSS theme
allows us to present a mobile view with the same software, but formatted for mobile devices.
Texas A&M University Mobile Website We realize that mobile is the wave of the future. We have therefore created one of the first university
mobile websites in the country. As the definition of mobile has shifted, this is no longer a
true mobile university site. It is instead designed for audiences who are themselves
mobile and have need for specific on-the-go information.
Campus Virtual Tours Another important portal for showcasing campus is our virtual tour site. This site is completely built in-house
and has become our largest ongoing project. We constantly update not only location photos but larger site features as well.
The location descriptions purposefully draw content from other campus sites as well as Texas A&M's rich mixture of
social media platforms.
12th Man Texas A&M University is the legal trademark owner of the phrase "12th Man." This site
was created to both give a visually appealing history of this important Aggie tradition as well
as to protect the trademark.
Reveille Reveille is the official mascot of Texas A&M University. When a new Reveille was
announced, Marketing & Communications created a microsite page to show her off. The site
also served as supplemental content for the larger A&M Traditions site being produced at
the same time.
Webmaster's Blog This is our team's voice to campus, where we can let web developers and communications
office know what we are thinking, what projects we have coming, and basic ideas on anything web
related. It has been a huge success in getting campus buy-in, and has even had several articles
picked up by other higher-education blogs across the country.
Texas A&M University Brand Guide The university has recently mandated across-the-board adherence to a centralized brand architecture.
This site serves as the central point for explaining the components that create our university brand.
Division of Marketing & Communications This site was completely redesigned after five years of having a departmental site of
questionable worth. A major effort was made to update content to showcase the services that we offer to
campus. The design was created to be a template that other departmental related sites – Brand Guide, Trademarks, Aggie
Media, etc. – would follow.
University Licensing & TrademarksUniversity licensing is handled by one of the offices within our department. This site details regulations
regarding use of our trademarks as well as featuring some of our premier partnerthips.
iTunesU Splash/landing page for transition into the iTunes store.
University Search Engine We recognize that search is a vital function in today's internet, with more than half of most site's visitors
originating from a search return. We therefore keep the university's primary search return page branded with the same
template as the university site.
TAMU Lite Created in case of a campus emergency, this lite version of the index page
allows us to better channel visitors directly to relevant information, while at the same time the
lean markup protects the server from overwhelming traffic surges that take place during emergencies.
Successfully put into place during Hurricane Ike in 2008.
Aggie PlatesThis site hosts order information for university-branded custom license plates. Texas A&M is the most popular
university plate and overall the second most popular custom plate offered by the state of Texas.
H.E.A.R.T. of Texas Created while I worked at CIS. Quick one-off project to help one of the staff members in customer
support. We put this organizational web site together for them in about two weeks. Includes
administrative areas where conferences are programatically created, with the ability to not only create
individual sessions but add information as detailed as breakfast and lunch menus.