TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Canvas Lead Developer
- Programmer Analyst II
Job Titles:
- Banner, CS Gold & Automic Developer
- Programmer Analyst II
Job Titles:
- Gato Development Lead
- Gato Lead Developer
Anne is the lead developer for the Gato content management system (CMS). Most of her work takes place behind the scenes, but the benefits of her labor are visible throughout the university's web presence. From mobile-first (Calico) design enhancements, to system-wide accessibility improvements, Anne's work has helped improve the user experience for website visitors and editors alike for many years.
While most other universities with a CMS and editor network as complex as TXST's (e.g. - 1000+ editors, 400+ websites) have an entire team of developers, Anne manages most of the day-to-day development for Gato's 8-week release cycle herself by being highly organized and ambitious. She is quick to identify tasks that need attention and take ownership before work is assigned and has one of the highest outputs on the Mobile/Web Systems development team. Anne is also well known for being a strong communicator. These attributes lead to her recent move to a formal code reviewer role in one of our largest development projects. Her evaluations and mentorship of newer team members have helped our team maintain stricter coding standards as we make changes, as well as discover and resolve issues more quickly and comprehensively.
Anne embodies TR's core values by consistently making decisions in the best interest of the university. Her focus on users is especially noticeable in the continuous way she invests in improving accessibility to ensure the university's web presence is user friendly to visitors with assistive technologies. Over the past two years, she has removed most of the system-level accessibility issues. These improvements have allowed the Gato support team to shift their focus to editor-introduced content issues, which not only creates a time savings in our team, it also improves editor behavior since the recouped time is spent on editor training and consultation. Anne's contributions are invaluable to the university and our team, and we are thrilled she is being recognized as the November 2022 TR Employee of the Month!
Job Titles:
- TXST Mobile Development Lead
- TXST Mobile Lead Developer
Job Titles:
- Systems Administrator
- Systems Administrator I
Job Titles:
- Database Administrator
- Senior Database Administrator
Job Titles:
- Analyst
- Programmer Analyst
- Senior Programmer
- Senior Program Analyst
Denise consistently serves her customer base with cheerfulness and a get ‘er done attitude. Recently, she single-handedly put together a Power BI dashboard highlighting the Business Analysis and Solutions (BAS) applications and various metrics surrounding them. While that alone is a big deal, what makes it even more spectacular is no one on the BAS team knew how to navigate Power BI, let alone pull metrics for 80+ tools. She taught herself, then put together a dashboard showcasing application highlights for anyone who wants to see the tools we've built and how effective they are.
Denise is responsible for several *.NET applications we've developed for various departments. She not only knows the ins and out of around 20 applications, she actively supports her customers when there is an issue or additional functionality is needed. She makes her customers and our team feel like we are valued and she is always there to help.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director, Enterprise Systems
Job Titles:
- Telecommunications Assistant
Job Titles:
- Application Administrator and Project Coordinator
- IT Project Coordinator
- IT Projects Coordinator
Jake Sloan is an application administrator and project coordinator in the Mobile/Web Systems department. Over the past few months, Jake has helped successfully track the migration of over 50 applications from Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 to a new Kubernetes cluster or Red Hat 8. His meticulous planning and documentation ensured a seamless transition, with minimal impact on end-users.
In addition to his pivotal role in the migration project, Jake played a central role in standardizing our department system diagrams. Collaborating with our systems lead, he carefully reviewed and updated all diagram fields and documented standards for future diagram builders in our internal knowledge base, resulting in a cleaner and more accessible representation of our systems. His attention to detail and commitment to improving our tools has significantly enhanced our team's understanding and external communication capabilities.
Amidst organizational changes across the university, Jake demonstrated patience and dedication in assisting University College and Division of Inclusive Excellence and the Gato team through the resulting churn and confusion. His willingness to extend a helping hand, not only to his immediate team but also across the campus community, showcases his collaborative spirit and commitment to quality work.
Numerous colleagues have commended Jake over the year for his exceptional project coordination skills, whether coordinating Qualtrics testing, reserving spaces for student feedback activities, or actively participating in application and system testing. His ability to balance guidance with allowing quiet focus, coupled with his enthusiasm for learning, makes him not only a pleasure to work with but also an invaluable member of our team.
In every aspect of his role, Jake exudes professionalism, organizational prowess, and efficiency. His respectful and understanding approach when working with end users or reporting issues to the development team underscores his dedication to delivering outstanding results. Jake Sloan's transformative impact on our team and the quality of our work makes him a deserving recipient of the Employee of the Month accolade. Congratulations, Jake, on this well-earned recognition!
James has assisted with the Ethos implementation, as well as establishing Ellucian Experience and Ellucian Analytics. He has committed substantial amounts of time to ensure he understood the new landscape and asked pointed and specific questions to make sure he had the knowledge to support it into the future. He invested in the success of both projects and communicated very effectively. He has an excellent memory, as well, recalling why configurations were made and could encourage the vendor to follow their own procedures consistently.
James is honest and reliable. As a member of the team, he steps up and provides the necessary support and knowledge to assist the team in making decisions. He did an outstanding job representing our department with Ellucian, as well. James helped the vendor perform more consistently and often found the problems with the configurations they had done. We are very grateful for his dedication and commitment to success.
James stepped up admirably in leading the Systems Team during his supervisor's absence these past few months. His proactive approach and dedication to the team's success were evident in every task he took on. James's leadership extended beyond his technical contributions. A notable achievement recently was James's successful collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to configure AWS Connect for the Student One-Stop project. His technical expertise and ability to work with external partners were key to the project's success. Furthermore, James has played an important role in planning the JCK data center migration, demonstrating meticulous planning and attention to detail.
If that wasn't enough, James also spent numerous hours assisting the Business Analysis and Solutions team navigate a complex situation related to a mandated server migration that impacted the entire .NET environment. He showed patience and efficiency as he fine-tuned configurations for over 20 servers, ensuring their uniformity. James's dedication, technical excellence and unwavering commitment to our team's success make him truly deserving of this recognition.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director, Business Analysis & Solutions
The mission of Business Analysis & Solutions is to deliver projects with predictable consistency, efficiency, and success with customers to ensure they can meet their business, teaching, learning, and research goals.
Job Titles:
- Programmer Analyst
- Senior Program Analyst
Job Titles:
- SAP & Accounting Reports Lead
Job Titles:
- Admin Extraordinaire
- Admin Extraordinaire ( Admin III )
- Administrative Assistant III
Jennifer is a central figure in the Technology Resources family. She always strives to be helpful and maintains a friendly and professional attitude. She does an outstanding job of handling countless tasks such as processing PCRs and onboarding new employees and student workers. She takes care of time entry administration, travel requests, and wellness requests. She organizes remote work requests and keeps track of associated assets such as laptops, desktops and monitors. She also answers countless phone calls to the Technology Resources department and university operator. She understands the organization and is able to connect callers to the right resource to address their requests. Jennifer is a team player and is always willing to jump into a project in order to help get it done. She recently worked with the other administrative assistants to organize a successful TR Summer Retreat. Her can-do attitude is appreciated by the entire department.
Jenny worked on the team that implemented Concur Travel. During implementation she overcame an issue in the Concur Travel program that handles trip request numbers and matching them to expense reports posted from Concur to SAP. This was just another day on the job for Jenny. However, when she arrived at the Concur Conference and visited with their trainer it was revealed that MIT and their consultant had run into the same issue and neither MIT, their consultant, or any member of the Concur team could find a solution. Jenny explained how she handled the issue and from there Concur asked if she would be willing to speak with MIT to help them understand her solution. Kudos to Jenny for being smarter than MIT!
When she's not outsmarting MIT, Jenny is utilizing her skills and knowledge to seamlessly transform incoming request into viable, measurable products; products which enhance, and allow us to develop reports that we provide to our customers, such as student Business Services, Accounts Payable, University Advancement, ITAC and Materials Management.
What makes Jenny extra terrific is that she will take time to help others figure out a problem and is great at thinking outside the box. We all have our roles but sometimes, we have to come together to figure out a problem that crosses the boundaries of FI and HR. Jenny is always willing to help and is an expert in her areas.
Job Titles:
- Special Assistant to the AVP
Job Titles:
- Programmer Analyst
- Programmer Analyst II
Job Titles:
- Developer
- Programmer Analyst II
Joshua consistently demonstrates a strong willingness to assist and accomplish tasks. He has been actively involved in refining the new environment, making adjustments as needed, and documenting the necessary steps. In addition, Joshua has also been working on the Business Intelligence Data Builder. This project is intended to benefit the Reporting team and the PMO team by facilitating their access to data from our SQL tables to create reports in Power BI. After thorough testing in the quality assurance environment, Josh successfully deployed it to production earlier this month.
Joshua's friendly demeanor and eagerness to assist others in resolving issues are highly commendable. His blend of patience and profound knowledge of the new system allows him to effectively support his colleagues. Moreover, he is responsive and has been instrumental in educating the team on various aspects of DevOps, making him an invaluable asset to the .NET Team.
Job Titles:
- Senior Business Process Analyst
Job Titles:
- Network Technician - Phone System Administrator
Juan recently completed a project to modernize the telephone infrastructure. Prior to this work, service from the telephone company to the university was vulnerable to cable damage and equipment failures. One of the consequences of this decades-old design was the complete loss of telephone service on campus during last year's ice storm, which caused a complete electrical power outage in our main telephone equipment center. Juan's efforts ensured phone service is now delivered to campus over a highly redundant network that is more resilient to such failures. Moreover, telephone service through Microsoft Teams is no longer dependent on any on-campus systems.
During his tenure at Texas State, Juan has cheerfully accepted additional responsibilities whenever it was needed. He started his career working in the campus bookstore before taking on a technical support role with the ITAC help desk. He later joined the Network Operations team as a Network Technician pulling cables and installing telephones. Over the years, he has managed the telephone billing system and coordinated network and telephony-related trouble tickets, and more recently took on the technical role of Telephone System Administrator. Each of these transitions required Juan to re-educate himself, learning a whole new set of skills and taking on increased responsibilities.
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant III
- Organizer Extraordinaire ( Admin Asst III )
Judy has worked diligently to create the PowerPoint to tell our team story. She has created spreadsheets to organize the pictures and descriptions of all the slides. She was tasked to meet with the project management team to access every active .NET tool and to capture multiple screenshots. She does the scheduling for Janell and helps with day-to-day operations. She loves to decorate the office and make it festive. She helped with all the homecoming and Christmas decorations. She is always willing to help wherever she can.
Job Titles:
- Senior Administrative Assistant
- Administrative Assistant ( Cat Wrangler Extraordinaire )
Katie Davis is the Senior Administrative Assistant for Technology Resources. Since joining TR, Katie has been the driving force behind the development of a highly effective and well-coordinated admin team. Her ability to unite and motivate her colleagues has resulted in noticeable improvements in the team's efficiency, productivity, and overall workplace morale. She's cultivated a sense of camaraderie within the group that serves as the bedrock of their success. Her intentional actions have cultivated an environment that strongly promotes the ongoing development of every admin. Through her collaborative approach, Katie skillfully recognizes and amplifies each team member's unique strengths, allowing them to shine while ensuring every contribution is equally valued. Her efforts to foster knowledge sharing and encourage skill growth not only prevent bottlenecks but also ensure the smooth functioning of the office at all times. Katie represents the best of TR, and we couldn't be happier to recognize her for this well-deserved award!
Job Titles:
- Business Process Analyst
- Senior Business Process Analyst
The Business Analysis and Solutions .NET team has been in the midst of a tremendous re-working of all the University's existing seventy-three .NET tools into the newer Blaze technology stack. As the team's main UI design resource, Laura has had her work cut out for her and has risen to the task! Look and feel, web functionality, mobile functionality, ADA compliance...she's tackling it all.
In the last few months, Laura has been working on designs for at least four Blaze applications along with going through the Qual Blaze applications to identify accessibility issues that need to be addressed before moving to production. This additional task of assisting with accessibility takes time, patience and dedication to create a tool that can be used by all. Her skill set and knowledge truly help our developers create quality tools that are accessible to the intended audience.
Laura is a hard worker, dependable and self-motivated. She is also patient and will always take the time to teach her co-workers that she has learned while researching tools. Laura is truly versatile and can work with anyone. She embodies all the core values that support our department mission.
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice President
- Associate Vice President / Deputy CIO
Hughes is an accomplished senior Information Technology executive with more than 40 years of progressive IT experience.
He has work history in diverse environments, covering all aspects of IT, and achieving extraordinary results aligned to organizational mission and goals.
He is a progressive, people-oriented leader known for organizational transformation and developing high-performing, collaborative teams.
As Associate Vice President, Technology Resources, Hughes leads a team of more than 100 professionals responsible for high performance computing; systems administration; administration of enterprise systems, in-house development, and cloud services; network operations and telecommunications; and project and business process management.
Job Titles:
- IT Project Coordinator
- IT Project Coordinator & ADA Testing Lead
Mark is one of those team members who needs very little direction to perform his duties successfully or find new and creative ways to contribute to our team. He seeks process improvement in nearly everything he does and regularly reduces the human resources and time we spend on low level technical activities. In particular, his work to automate mobile notification requests and user audits across all MWS applications using Microsoft Power Automate and optimization of the Gato site launch process over the last year has drastically reduced website maintenance and improved time to market for university websites.
Mark is proactive with his professional development and consistently transfers his skills to other team members. He is knowledgeable about Web and mobile accessibility issues and performs most of the ADA quality assurance testing within our department. He also takes time to train other team members in our unit on common assistive technologies and helps trainees understand how to recognize and correctly report WCAG failures to developers. This effort has reduced our dependency on the EIRAC to assess the technologies we are using or the applications we are building.
Mark is a highly respected and liked member of the team. His work ethic is astounding - he always goes above and beyond in his duties while maintaining a cheery disposition, even during difficult circumstances. He is a true team player and is always willing to lend a hand to all colleagues, on the team or not. He is the go-to on Banner patching where he takes the lead on preparation and troubleshooting; and he can always be depended on to find causes behind issues or the latest updates needed. He has also become our expert on the TCC modifications to Banner, and ensures after every upgrade that the modifications are reinstalled - we never have to worry about the major issues that would ensue if those modifications were overwritten during an upgrade.
In addition he works on most of the projects that the DBA team takes on - most recently the implementation of the Ellucian Insights application. He is a very deserving candidate for this award.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director, Enterprise Systems
The mission of Enterprise Systems is to support and enhance enterprise computing applications by performing programming and application support functions, facilitating access to information through development of reports and dashboards, extending use of electronic document management services, and providing a robust and streamlined Identity Management system for the Texas State community.
Job Titles:
- Linux Systems Administrator
Job Titles:
- Senior Network Administrator
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director, Infrastructure Services
The mission of Network Operations is to provide accessible, reliable, and sustainable voice and data communications services to enable the Texas State community to effectively meet their business, teaching, learning, and research goals.
Job Titles:
- Business Process Analyst
- SAP Business Process Analyst
Job Titles:
- Programmer Analyst
- Senior Program Analyst
- Web Development Lead, Mobile / Web Systems
Nick is one of those team members who deserves constant recognition. He is an exceptional developer, skilled architect, helpful mentor, and all around good team member. His contributions and leadership in the Dos Gato update this June showcased his dedication, peer coaching, and technical expertise; all of which played a critical role in the successful implementation of our new, locally developed CMS.
Throughout the project, Nick brought together and mentored a team of developers, ensuring they were well-equipped and adequately supported to meet the challenges at hand. His patient and respectful demeanor, combined with his availability for questions and guidance, was greatly appreciated by the project manager, development team, quality assurance testers, and application administrators. While collaborating with Nick is always a delight - his strong work ethic, focused attitude, and overall professionalism in the Dos Gato project inspired the rest of our team to pull together to meet a deadline that would have otherwise felt impossible. The team's shared achievement would not have been possible without Nick's leadership and vast experience.
Job Titles:
- Application Administrator
Job Titles:
- Employee of the Month
- Net Developer
- Programmer Analyst II
We are delighted to announce Radha Sreedharane as the TR Employee of the Month. Radha has worked with us for many years as a highly skilled .NET developer. She epitomizes excellence in all aspects of her work, adeptly juggling multiple projects while consistently delivering exceptional results. In terms of communication, Radha's responsiveness is unparalleled. She maintains regular communication with project teams and customers she works with, ensuring timely access to information and earning the trust and respect of her colleagues and clients alike. She excels at investigating and troubleshooting complex application problems and displays an unwavering dedication to resolving complex software issues, even in the absence of comprehensive documentation. Radha's commitment to excellence, team responsiveness, and overall proficiency makes her an indispensable asset to the TR team. Please join us in congratulating Radha on this well-deserved recognition for her outstanding contributions and exemplary work ethic!
Job Titles:
- Programmer Analyst II
- SIS Reports Lead
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director, Mobile / Web Systems
The mission of Mobile/Web Systems is to deliver reliable application-based services; to design and develop accessible, user-friendly web platforms and mobile applications that are standards-compliant to improve the university's business operations and enhance the information sharing needs of Texas State students, faculty and staff.
Job Titles:
- Programmer Analyst
- Senior Program Analyst
Ryan's primary responsibility involves the intricate task of creating maps, which appears straightforward but demands managing complex information and meticulous attention to detail. Assigned to plot pathways across the campus map, Ryan utilizes various tools to precisely locate the starting and ending points of copper and fiber lines. Navigating through manholes, he carefully labels cables, identifies conduits, and documents each step, often tracing cables through multiple manholes to connect buildings. After completing the fieldwork, Ryan meticulously compiles all gathered data and drafts the pathways using sophisticated software applications, ensuring perfection in every detail.
His efforts not only save countless hours for his unit but also conserve resources for pressing tasks. Without Ryan's contributions, locating cables and resolving issues would entail days of laborious effort. Thanks to his dedication, the team confidently relies on the maps he produces to inform decisions regarding excavation, construction, network maintenance, and troubleshooting for the University.
Ryan possesses profound knowledge and expertise in servers, Active Directory, and Azure. His assistance is frequently sought to optimize our systems, troubleshoot emerging issues, and address various inquiries. Ryan consistently demonstrates a willingness to help, coupled with a collaborative spirit and a 'can do' attitude that significantly contributes to our overall success.
Additionally, I commend Ryan for his focus on process improvement within his team. He is keenly aware of manual tasks that are impeding the efficiency of his colleagues and is actively working towards implementing resolutions. By doing so, he aims to alleviate the burden on his team, allowing them to engage in more strategic projects. This commitment not only benefits his immediate team but also positively impacts the larger division. We express our gratitude for Ryan's hard work and commendable contributions.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director, Network Operations
Job Titles:
- Systems Support Analyst ( HPC )
Job Titles:
- Business Process Analyst
- Senior Business Process Analyst
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director, Enterprise Systems