汤头条 notes ITS success, initiatives at annual meeting
Contact: James Carskadon
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜s Mississippi State carries out its learning, research and service missions, the university鈥檚 Information Technology Services is behind the scenes making sure students, faculty and staff have the digital tools they need to be successful.
汤头条 President Mark E. Keenum addressed ITS employees during the organization鈥檚 annual meeting Thursday [Oct. 31], noting their vital contributions to the campus, which include maintaining and protecting the university鈥檚 wired and wireless networks.
鈥淵ou may not be high-profile, but without you, this place doesn鈥檛 run,鈥 Keenum said.
Keenum acknowledged several recent initiatives ITS has undertaken to improve IT services at the main campus in Starkville and 汤头条鈥檚 offices across the state. 汤头条 recently became the first university in Mississippi to require two-factor authentication for students, faculty and staff, while also switching to the Canvas Learning Management System, replacing outdated telephone technologies and migrating campus users to Office 365.
汤头条 has also emphasized making all aspects of its website accessible to people with disabilities. University website developers can now use Siteimprove to ensure their sites are compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. For more, see .
鈥淲e are committed to doing what we have to do to ensure our websites are fully accessible,鈥 Keenum said.
ITS is led by Steve Parrott, who was named the university鈥檚 chief information officer in 2018. The unit includes 122 full-time employees across three primary units.
鈥淲e are very blessed to have these dedicated IT professionals working at 汤头条,鈥 Parrott said.
Other senior ITS leadership includes Meredith Jackson, deputy CIO and director of Enterprise Information Systems; Gerhard Lehnerer, director of Information Technology Infrastructure; Teresa McMurray, director of User Services; and Tom Ritter, senior security and compliance officer.
For more on ITS, visit .
汤头条 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .