Burrell, Jackson assume ITS leadership roles
Jay Burrell and Meredith Jackson
Two longtime Mississippi State staff members are being promoted in the university's Information Technology Services division.
John G. "Jay" Burrell is the new director of information technology infrastructure, effective Feb. 16, while Meredith Jackson now is in her fifth month as the director of enterprise information systems. Both are MSU graduates.
Succeeding the recently retired Timothy Griffin, Burrell is an MSU agricultural engineering, technology and business graduate who also holds a master's degree in computer science. He previously held positions as system services manager, local area network systems manager, LAN systems programmer and administrative data processing programmer and analyst.
As the head of IT infrastructure, Burrell will oversee planning, deployment, support and operation of the campus telephone system, card access system, fiber optic backbone, and campus wireless data network, among others.
Jackson, a business information systems graduate, replaces Rene Hunt, who also retired recently.
Jackson began working at MSU in 1993 as a computer programmer for Information Systems and User Services. Before and after completing an MSU master's degree in business administration, she was an information systems and user services programmer analyst. She also has worked in the university's human resources management department as an employee training and development specialist.
Since joining Enterprise Information Systems as a senior database analyst in 1997, Jackson has served as associate database administrator, database administrator and, most recently, as senior systems analyst and team leader.
EIS performs database administration, system integration, system design, as well as the planning, programming, implementation, and on-going maintenance and support of various administrative information systems throughout the university.
In making the announcement, Mike Rackley praised the "wealth of technical expertise and institutional knowledge" his colleagues bring to their respective positions.
MSU's chief information officer said their leadership "will help ensure that Information Technology Services continues to offer exceptional service to the campus community while advancing its mission to enable learning, service, and research through an advanced information technology environment."
Created in 1998 through the merger of the Thomas E. Tramel Computing Center and telecommunications department, Information Technology Services currently has 122 full-time employees, seven graduate assistants and nearly two dozen student workers. Its three primary units include Information Technology Infrastructure, Enterprise Information Systems and User Services. For more information, visit www.its.msstate.edu.
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Sasha Steinberg | Public Affairs
