IT Advisory Board

IT Advisory Board

Mission & Purpose

The mission of the IT Advisory Board is to provide advice, guidance and support for the continuing development of high quality programs in management information systems and computer science in the J. Whitney Bunting College of Business and Technology at Georgia College.

The Board will assist in promoting the professional image of and good relations for the Department of Information Systems and Computer Science with the larger IT business community. More specifically, the Board shall assist the Department by:

  • Providing advice and counsel to the Chair and faculty on all pertinent matters that affect the department, internal as well as external, to best relate the department and its programs to the changing needs of the IT business community.
  • Supplementing the existing career counseling and placement services to increase the availability of job opportunities to undergraduate and graduate MIS/CS majors, including communication between IT business people and students to acquaint students with challenges and opportunities.
  • Providing the faculty opportunities for meaningful IT business engagements, short-term employment in responsible positions and other relationships and programs with the IT business community, including providing research support for faculty members by assisting in gaining access to or by creating databases and, if appropriate, providing research grants.
  • Sharing the special insight and expertise of IT business executives through classroom presentation or other meeting situations, executive-in-residence programs, executive-to-student counseling and faculty consultation.
  • Assisting the Department in acquiring the resources necessary to continue its development as a leader in the education of MIS/CS majors by taking an active role in private fundraising activities.
2021-2022 Member Biographies

Mark Bailey

Chris Beasley currently serves as the VP, CIO at First Health of the Carolinas. Chris received his BBA in MIS and MBA at Georgia College. He holds several industry certifications in IT leadership, project management, and technology. Chris is a member of several professional organizations including the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, American College of Healthcare Executives, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, and the Project Management Institute. He is also a member of the Robins Regional Chamber and Velocity Healthcare Collaborative boards of directors.

Randall Clark, CISA, CRISC, MMIS, ITAC, AINS, AIS, AIT, API has over 15 years in IT at Georgia Farm Bureau. He has spent 6 years programming on the mainframe in COBOL, JCL, DYL280 and SQL. He then joined the Internal Audit department as the IT Auditor. He performs audits on the IT systems within the company as well as supports the audit staff with data extraction and analytics, system report/data validation, and software support. He holds a B.B.A. in Management Information Systems from GC, MMIS from GC, Certified Information Systems Auditor Certification from ISACA, Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control from ISACA, Information Technology Auditor Certification from MIS, and various Insurance related certifications and designations.  He is currently a Senior Cyber Security Analyst at Georgia Farm Bureau.

Danny Glenzer

Tom Glover currently serves as President for Responsive Technology Partner.  Tom is a veteran IT professional who has spent the last 30+ years solving tough IT, cyber-security and compliance problems for clients worldwide.  Over the years, he has implemented cyber-security solutions for clients ranging from small healthcare facilities to schools, local governments and even the Bahamas Ministries of Immigration and Foreign Affairs.  Tom has been recognized by his industry peers as an innovative leader in IT management and cyber-security solutions.  Under his leadership, Responsive Technology Partners has grown from a small, local company to one of the largest Managed Services Providers in the Southeastern United States with offices in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida.  Responsive Technology Partners was recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in the US in both 2020 and 2021 in their Inc 5000 list.  Tom graduated from Southern Tech with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.

Mitch Hinson is an IT Manager for GEICO and has been with the company for 16 years.  He has served many roles within the IT organization at GEICO that have continued to help him lead teams towards success.  Mitch is married to his wife Amy and they have two children: Abby (14) and Huntley (7). He earned his bachelor’s degree from Macon State College in Business Management & IT and later went on to complete his MBA at Georgia College in 2008.  Currently, He is working on completing his Doctorate of Education degree at Liberty University in Christian Leadership and Ministry.  In his spare time, Mitch enjoy spending time with friends and family, supporting his local Church, coaching high school baseball, and playing golf.

Casey Humphries is a Senior Project Manager at Aristocrat Technologies, which creates entertainment-style slot machines for social casino markets. She is responsible for developing strategic initiatives for the mobile landscape as well as the successful development and execution of mobile products in the digital division. Casey specializes in mobile user experience and product life cycle management and holds certifications in Usability Analysis, Project Management, and Agile Life Cycle Management. She has previously worked as a Product Manager in the telecommunications industry, where she developed complex regulatory compliance solutions, enabling enterprises to comply with global marketing regulations. Casey earned her B.B.A in Management Information Systems from Georgia College & State University. 

Sheri Johnson recently retired from Ellucian after 22 years. She completed over 30 years in higher education working with Administrative Systems. Sheri has previously served in the following roles: Director of Administrative Computing, Project Manager, Programmer, System Consultant, Implementation Manager and Principal Consultant. In her last position at Ellucian, she utilized project management, applied process analysis & improvement, developed technical specifications and documentation, and used her knowledge of federal funding compliance while working hand in hand with upper management and end-users during system implementations. She holds a BS in Computer Science from Valdosta State University. 

Susan Kerr is CIO at Georgia College. She has over 30 years’ experience in higher education, with 20+ of these years in the University System of Georgia in both faculty and staff roles; 6 ½ years in the corporate sector working for companies dedicated solely to higher education clients; and 18 years of management experience. She has a Master of Arts in Mathematics from the University of Georgia and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with emphasis in Computer Science from Georgia Southern University. She also has an Associates Degree in Practical Theology from Christ For the Nations Institute in Dallas. TX. Throughout her career, whether teaching collegiate mathematics courses, serving in instructional technology roles, managing IT teams, or providing sales and customer service to higher education clients while working in the public sector, her specialization has been in team focused leadership built on strong pillars of exceptional customer service, technical management, hard work, and excellence.

Bernard “Bernie” Lannan is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. He entered the Air Force in October 1976 as a Precision Measurement Equipment Specialist, then completed the Electronics Engineering Technology degree at Purdue, receiving his commission in 1981 and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in Air Force Reserves in 2009. In 1986, he transferred to be a civil service electronics engineer in the Airborne Electronics Division of the Maintenance Directorate and spent five years with the Specialized Management Directorate working classified weapon systems at Robins AFB. In 1991, Bernie was the Information Resource Manager for the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airway Facilities, Southern Region until 2001. Mr. Lannan then became the IT Operations Director for an Atlanta based financial company.  He then returned to Robins Air Force Base in 2004 as an active duty Reserve officer and reinstated into civil service in 2005 as the Robins Air Force Base Chief Technology Officer.  

John Lutes has held a variety of evolving roles in both IT and Business during his career. He is currently the Director of IT at Mauser Packaging, a global leader in packaging solutions. He is responsible for supporting applications which span the enterprise such as HR, Sales and Finance. In addition he leads a team supporting the North American Industrial Packaging business unit of Mauser. John’s passion in IT is connecting business need with technology solutions, driving value creation for his business partners. His two sons are graduates of the College of Business at Georgia College, and he sees this opportunity on the Board to give back to the college that contributed to his sons’ growth in Milledgeville. His outside work passion is all things water and spending countless hours walking and exploring Civil War Battlefields.

Mike Madison is currently Senior Director of Product for Westhill Global, an insurance technology startup that connects property insurance carriers, policyholders, and contractors. In this role, Mike leads multiple teams, including Product Management, Product Operations, Engineering, and Engineering Support. Previously, Mike was Principal Product Manager for Acoustic (formerly IBM Watson Marketing), Senior Manager for Customer Success at Aha!, as well as Head of Product for FieldEdge. Mike also served as the VP for Product Development and Senior Director of Product Management for SAI Global. Mike received his BBA, MBA, and MMIS degrees from Georgia College. In addition to serving on the IT Advisory Board, Mike has also served on the College of Business Advisory Board.

Juan Nassiff is a technology professional with over 20 years of experience in custom application development and systems consulting.  His knowledge of technology spans design, development and delivery of solutions as well as sales engineering, marketing and instruction. Juan’s career has covered a multitude of clients in diverse industries including Entertainment, Government, Hospitality, Manufacturing, Medical, Oil and Gas, Pharmaceutical, Real Estate, Retail, and Travel.  He has worked at various sized companies including large corporate entities such as The Home Depot, Microsoft and Electronic Data Systems (HP). Juan earned his BBA in Management Information Systems from The University of Texas at Austin.  Juan Nassiff is currently a Client Solutions Manager at Magenic.

Amy Robben is a Senior Implementation Consultant at Techport Thirteen, Inc. She is responsible for helping customers implement IT Service Management processes on the ServiceNow platform, from getting new customers set up on the platform, to building out custom solutions. Technologies utilized are primarily javascript, HTML/CSS, and Angular js. She graduated from Georgia College in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and minor in Mathematics. During her time at Georgia College, she worked as a supplemental instructor for the Computer Science I and II courses. In her free time, she enjoys running and completing different art projects involving painting, drawing, and printmaking.

James Robertson is VP of CTO Strategy and Industry Evangelist & Advisor for Aruba Networks/HPE in the Office of the CTO. With over 25 years in Technology Architecture, Engineering and Operations, James has always taken a pragmatic approach to building some of the largest and most complicated mission critical environments - from Data Centers to Cloud transformations and Campus networks to agile and high performing global WAN’s with a focus always on creating innovative and effective ways to more efficiently utilize technology in a connected and borderless world. Before joining Aruba Networks/HPE, James was the CTO of AT&T's Warner Media Group with responsibility for Shared Services technology globally. James was an Exchange Student at Georgia College for two years during his undergraduate studies and holds Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in Computer Science.

Aruna Sadasivan is a multi-disciplined IT leader specializing in Fintech.   Hands-on and well-grounded technologist with over two decades of experience in software architecture, data analytics, and information management.    Aruna focuses on bringing innovation in technological solutions to strategic initiatives in both back-office and data services.  Currently, she is serving as Principal Architect for Assetmark (AMK) providing architectural expertise and direction for a variety of wealth management products. Aruna’s educational background is in Mathematics, Computer Applications, and Cost Accounting from India.  She recently graduated with an MBA from GCSU. Aruna is also passionate about serving the community.   In the last decade, she has served about 150-200 hours per year in a variety of roles including but not limited to being a certified tennis coach for special needs, SAT Math coach for North-South Foundation, RedCross platelet donor, academic outreach liaison for ATLytics - data science for good.  Aruna has been serving on the IT Advisory Board of Georgia College and State University from November 2019.  She also co-authors research journal articles with GCSU professors Dr. Sams and Dr. Rickard.  She aspires to contribute to future research topics on the NonProfit Sector. 

Megan Sims is an IT Project Manager at Bennett Thrasher, one of the largest and fastest-growing CPA and consulting firms in the U.S. She is responsible for the management of the company’s practice management suite as well as other service line project management needs. Megan is a certified Project Management Professional specializing in project and program management. She also holds a Tableau Desktop Specialist certification. Previously, she served as a Database Administrator at Frazier & Deeter and as a JR Database Report Writer for California-based AC Martin Group. Megan earned her BBA in Management Information Systems from Georgia College in 2012.  

Gay Smith is currently CEO of C. Gay Smith, Inc. and works with Accenture within Accenture’s Global Legal Ventures & Acquisitions team as an Integration Lead. With more than 25 years of experience in IT purchasing, marketing, real estate development, and consulting, her special concentration lies in Deal Shaping/Contracting and Real Property Law. Mrs. Smith holds her MBA as well as a BBA in Information Systems from Georgia College & State University. 

Sigismund “Siggy” Tetteh joined Houston Healthcare as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) in March 2021. With 25 years of Information Technology (IT) experience, Siggy brings a depth of knowledge to his new role. Having worked in healthcare for 19 of these years, he is well versed in healthcare information technology. He most recently served as the IT Director of Rural Health for Atrium Health Navicent in which he oversaw all IT responsibilities for their three rural hospitals. Siggy began his career in IT as a technician, working his way to an analyst, manager, and director. Siggy received his Master of Business Administration from Georgia College &State University’s J. Whitney Bunting College of Business. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Management Information Systems from Middle Georgia State University. In addition to his graduate and undergraduate studies, Siggy also holds IT certifications and is a Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt for Healthcare.

Kenneth Trussell recently retired as the VP of Engineering and Technology for Thiele Kaolin Company, a world-leader in the production of kaolin clay, headquartered in Sandersville, GA. He has 40 years’ experience in engineering and information technology. For 18 years, he oversaw the Engineering, Construction, Information Services and Automation Systems departments. Prior to joining Thiele in 1988 as a controls engineer, Kenny was a Research Engineer for Georgia Tech Research Institute and then an Assistant Professor at Georgia College in the Information Systems and Communications Department. He currently teaches Computer Science courses as an adjunct at Georgia College and works as a contract controls engineer for Thiele. He holds a BEE and MSEE from Georgia Tech.

Darnell Vickers is a current resident of Dunwoody, GA. He graduated from Georgia College with a B.B.A. in Management Information Systems in 1999. He has been employed with North American Class 1 Railroad Norfolk Southern since 2000 and works as a systems consultant for the Network & Service Management department. He is responsible for the development of new systems and the management of existing systems that aid in Norfolk Southern’s traffic management. He also manages several of Norfolk Southern’s online e-commerce applications, and is an active participant in North American railroad industry initiatives that include shared systems development with other members of the American Association of Railroads (AAR).

Heather Walker is the Vice President, Market Chief Information Officer for Atrium Health Navicent and has worked in Healthcare Information Technology for more than 20 years. Her career highlights include multiple complex healthcare technology implementations, including an integrated EHR, financial systems, business applications, and numerous clinical applications. Heather has served as an IT Director, HIPAA Security Officer, Director IT Transformation and EIM, AVP Business Solutions & EIM, and Chief Information Officer. She holds a Master of Management Information Systems and a Bachelor Degree in Computer Based Information Systems from Georgia College & State University. Additionally, she received an Associate Degree from Georgia Military College where she was chosen by the American Association of University Women as the top female graduate. She was also recognized as a top honor graduate from Georgia College & State University and selected as the outstanding major in the MMIS program. In 2015, Heather received a Lean Six Sigma Certification in Healthcare. Heather is a member of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). She has a passion for leveraging technology to improve the lives of caregivers and the communities they serve.

Natalie Wilkerson works as the Director of Clinical Applications at Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta. Prior to joining Piedmont Heathcare in 2013, she worked for over 15 years in IT at Henry Medical Center. Natalie received a BBA with a major in Business Information Systems from Georgia College.

Rhonda Wood is an accomplished leader with 37 years’ experience in Federal government human resources system development and operations. Rhonda is the Director of OPM’s primary Data Center in Macon, Georgia. She leads a team of professional Information Technology specialists in developing and hosting state-of-the-art automated staffing and benefits systems for Federal and State agencies. Rhonda has experience leading large government-wide system development efforts and manages major employee/retiree automated hiring, staffing, and self-service benefits systems that support 95 Federal agencies with more than 9 million civilian and military employees, members, retirees, annuitants, and the general public seeking Federal job opportunities. She also manages the technical development and support of the first government-wide performance management system. Rhonda has a B.B.A. degree in Business Information Systems and a Master’s degree in Management Information Systems from Georgia College & State University. She is a certified Master Project Manager® and a certified Scrum Master and Product Owner in Agile software development. Rhonda has served on the Georgia College & State University Foundation Board and as President of the Alumni Association Board. She currently serves on two advisory leadership boards for the university - the J. Whitney Bunting College of Business and the Department of Information Systems and Computer Science where she is the founding chair. In 2015, Rhonda established the Rhonda P. Wood Endowed Scholarship for students enrolled in the Management Information Systems program at Georgia College & State University. 

Jessica Youngblood is a Business Development Executive at Sogeti USA, the Technology and Engineering Services Division of Capgemini America, Inc. She has worked with Capgemini in various roles since receiving her BBA from Georgia Southern University in 2013. 

Brent Zucker serves as the Engineering Manager for the NCR Software Innovation Lab where he leads teams and projects that focus on disrupting banks, restaurants, and stores by developing concepts that leverage Machine Learning, Computer Vision, and Distributed Ledger Technology. Brent is interested in entrepreneurship, research, and personal development. In his free time he enjoys The Atlanta Beltline with his fiancé, Carly, and their dog, Herty. He holds a Master of Science in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Georgia College.