Keeping ahead of my classes and working with projects through ISRI  (VCU's Information Systems Research Institutes) are my objectives now.  As a collateral instructor, teaching is my primary duty, with 8 sections plus Summer School.     

Work and study in diverse fields of Systems, Psychology, Education, Government, Aviation, Accounting, and Business have prepared me for tasks in system development & administration, quality management, and data reduction & analysis. My role as faculty for Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Business & ISRI helps keep me current in systems technology and management science. My roles as systems administrator have involved operating systems from DEC's RSTS & MUMPS through Unix, Pick, Windows NT & Server, and Linux.  Recently I have adopted the OpenSource tools Apache Server, MySQL, & PHP and have gained the expertise to provide active content, conduct web-based surveys for multi-lingual organizations, order entry, quality management, and other applications.

I practice and teach structured, object-oriented analysis and design techniques and strive to engineer systems which are economical and easily maintained.  I am expert with the 4GL tools of IBM's SB+ and with procedural languages such as BASIC and PROC.  I have specialized in integrating PICK/UniVerse systems with more open environments, and know and use VB6 and VB.NET in my work .  

My past experience ranges from applications involving tabulators and punched-card processing equipment through mainframes, laboratory equipment interfaces, plotters and printers, minicomputers, datacommunications, LANs, and microcomputers. I am pleased to add value to systems where I am involved.

Where ‘canned software’ and ‘turnkey systems’ do not fit, I can work directly with owners and users to define requirements and implement systems to satisfy them. 

Employment History:

August 1999 - September 2000: 

Feb 1999 - Present:  Coppola Enterprises/Vertical Computer Works
Systems Developer

1983 - 1999: Perkins Inventory & Research Analysis
Systems Developer

May 1995 - Dec  1998: Atlantic Management Corporation
Systems Administrator

My part-time position as systems administrator allowed continued development of ‘Vertical Computer Works’, experience as a unix systems and WAN administrator, and the opportunity of pursuing system consulting projects. Atlantic Management's DG/UniVerse/SB+ system was used to support a number of time-shared applications which ran under my care from 1985 through 1999. 

1981 - 1995: Chesapeake Computerworks
Analyst/Programmer

This business was incorporated in 1981 to provide time-shared computing services for small business. Starting with a 32 user McDonnell-Douglas Reality minicomputer & ending with a 256 user Sequel, we developed and maintained a number of systems for receivables, publication & circulation, inventory, and accounting. As PICK became available for microcomputers, we developed skills for rehosting legacy applications on more open systems and traveled providing these services.

1973 - Present: Virginia Commonwealth University
Faculty: Administrative, Adjunct, and most recently Collateral
School of Arts and Sciences: Department of Psychology, Office of Student Evaluation of Instruction
School of Business: Department of Information Systems, Information Systems Research Institute

Starting employment with VCU as a graduate student in Psychology in 1973, I have continued in various full-time and part-time positions with administrative and teaching duties: Graduate Research Assistant; Analyst/Programmer for Student Evaluation of Instruction; Adjunct Faculty for Information Systems; and as an Instructor of Information Systems and Facilitator for Faculty Development in Microcomputing. I now serve as a collateral faculty member teaching in the Information Engineering track for ISY majors and off-campus courses for industry and government.

Courses taught include: Introduction to Information Systems; Advanced Program Design & Data Structures; Systems Analysis; Programming Languages; Project Management; Object Oriented Enterprise Engineering; Hardware/Software; PowerBuilder, & Visual Basic.   Seminars for The Management Center at VCU’s School of Business and ISRI include: VisiCalc, Wordstar, SuperCalc, Lotus 1-2-3, Word, Access, Excel, Visual Basic, and Project.

Administrative Duties included: supervision of departmental work-study students and the School’s computer lab facilities; faculty development in the use of microcomputers; systems administrator for the school’s Hewlett-Packard 3000 minicomputer, Pyramid minicomputer, and IBM/Amdahl services; liaison with other university offices regarding LAN and computing issues; and other duties and research as directed by various Department Chairpersons and Deans.

Languages used: JCL/JES II; COBOL; ITF; TSO; PL/1; FORTRAN; SPSS; SAS, DOS, Windows, unix, Hewlett-Packard 3000 OS; Visual Basic; PowerBuilder, PHP.

1981 - 1982: J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College
Faculty

Here, I taught program design and COBOL as an adjunct faculty member. Students in this evening curriculum were highly motivated. Projects were card based and submitted through a remote job entry network for compilation and run.

1979 - 1982: Commonwealth of Virginia, Department of Management Analysis & Systems Development
Senior Analyst

MASD assigned me to a number of projects, either as lead analyst for a team of programmers, or working on individual projects. From 80-82, I served as the chair for the agency’s training council, which provided systems education for the 250+ programmers and analysts employed by the agency. Primary assignments were: automation of the Workmen’s Compensation Boards claims and statistical information systems; automation of the systems for the Workmen’s Compensation Rating Bureau; automation of the Department of Aviation’s Airman Licensing, Aircraft Licensing, and Airport Equipment Inventory systems, including a resource allocation model to support funding of various projects; automation of the sample management systems and interface to analytical equipment for the Neonatal Testing Facility for the commonwealth’s Consolidated Laboratory; consulting and programming for numerous small-agency systems. MASD used my university teaching skills to provide in-house training in COBOL, CODASYL database concepts and programming, and systems analysis.

Languages used: Univac COBOL, ECL, DMS1100 DBMS, and MAPPER; IBM JCL & COBOL, IMS DBMS, CICS, flat-file; Hewlett-Packard BASIC, Codasyl DBMS; and various 4GL languages being evaluated by MASD.

1974 - 1979: Virginia Union University, School of Education, School of Arts & Sciences
Clinical Faculty
Coordinator of Computing Activites

Starting as Clinical Instructor of Psychology, I taught courses such as: Tests & Measures; Behavioral Statistics; Human Growth & Development; and Introduction to Psychology. I also supervised the activities of Psychology majors in the School’s extensive field work program, presented seminars for Richmond Public Schools, and worked with neighboring Henrico County’s Dept. of Education providing psychological evaluations of children and adolescents.

When the school received a Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-11 minicomputer as the result of a grant which I helped develop, it became my duty to set up the computer lab facility and teach courses in computing. I also developed and implemented an on-line system for registration and grade reporting for the Registrar’s office.

Languages used: DEC RSTS/E OS; BASIC; PDP-11 Assembler; FORTRAN, Hewlett-Packard 1175 BASIC.

1968 - 1975: Worley Aviation, New Kent County, VA
Flight Instructor

As a flight instructor in this FAA approved program, I prepared students for certification as private and commercial pilots. This provided me with early experience in assessing students’ needs and preparing lesson plans to move them toward their tests and check rides. I also worked as an air-taxi pilot under part 135 carrying passengers on chartered flights, flying skydivers, and ferrying aircraft for sale. This was a full-to-part-time activity through college and graduate school.

1967 - 1968: Aero Industries, Richmond, VA
Dispatcher, Pilot

Tended the service counter for this busy fixed base operator on Richmond's Byrd Field. Scheduled charter, aircraft rentals, and training. Handled charges for fuel, rental cars, shop expenses and reconciled deposits on a daily basis. As a new commercial pilot with a multi-engine rating, I flew daytime VFR charter flights in single and twin-engine aircraft, grandfathered into Part 135 Air-Taxi operations.

1965 - 1967: Owens & Minor, Richmond, VA
Student Work Study

This afternoon job is included since it was my first experience with a computer system as I maintained the company’s large price list using a system of punched cards, unit-processing equipment, printer, and offset press. Other duties included mail-room operations, photography, and warehouse work.

1962 - 1966: Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge, Savannah, GA
Summer helper

This experience in my family’s business was where I learned principles of accounting, including work with my brother as he moved from old, single entry journals to a double entry ledger system. During summers, I was responsible for night audit, deposit, payroll, payables, and other office functions.  And, I worked as 'pool boy' for neighboring motels.

Education:

1982 - Present: Virginia Commonwealth University

Posts as faculty member and systems analyst have allowed continuing education through seminars and courses relevant to my work for the University.

1979 - 1981: Commonwealth of Virginia, MASD, OMDT, and Univac

MASD and the Office of Management Development & Training provided excellent courses and seminars in management, systems analysis and design, operating systems, accounting, programming languages, and database management systems.

1978 - 1979: Digital Equipment Corporation

I received training at DEC’s facilities in RSTS/E Operating System Administration; DEC Assembler; and DEC/BASIC programming.

1970 - 1976: Virginia Commonwealth University

My degrees of Bachelor and Master of Science were earned in the Department of Psychology at VCU. Coursework and clinical experience developed skills in psychodiagnostics, behavioral therapy, and counseling. Coursework and research projects provided the opportunity for experience with system projects for data acquisition and analysis using SPSS, SAS, PL/1, and other tools of the IBM Mainframe/JES II environment provided by the school for interested students. I also worked with a number of students and faculty members as a statistical consultant.

1968 - 1970: University of Richmond

I started U of R intending to be a music major in Organ and Sacred Music. VCU & what my friends related about using of computers in various courses became more attractive to me and I transferred there after my sophomore year.

Professional Activities:

President, Richmond Area PICK Users Group, 1986 - 1999.

Treasurer, North American/International System Builder Users Group, 1992 -1997.

Numerous courses and seminars in data processing and office automation, with VCU Management Center and Information Systems Research Institute.

Publications:

Class Meeting Time and Number of Prior Evaluations as Correlates of Student Rating of Instruction. M.S. Thesis, VCU, 1976.

System Projects:

Personal Interests:

Computing.
Navigation: Saltwater fishing and boating; Commercial pilot, multi-engine, instrument, flight instructor.
Reading fiction.
Dogs: Trained several Giant Schnauzers and Doberman Pinschers as companion dogs.