UPD leaders among appointments approved by SFA Board of Regents

January 29, 2019

John Fields, left, is the new chief of police and Craig Goodman is assistant chief of police for Stephen F. Austin State University. Their appointments were approved by SFA's Board of Regents during a meeting Tuesday.

The Stephen F. Austin State University Board of Regents approved appointment of two new leaders for the University Police Department during its Tuesday meeting.

John Fields will serve as chief of the SFA department. Fields served as director of public safety and chief of police at Albany State University in Albany, Georgia, since 2011, after serving as assistant chief of police and chief investigator from 2007-11. He brings a background in municipal law enforcement, having served in a variety of roles for the Dougherty County Sheriff's Office, before rising to the rank of operations captain in 2001.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science, a Master of Public Administration and a Master of Science in criminal justice, all from Albany State University. Fields is a decorated veteran of the U.S. Army, serving in Operation Desert Storm.

"The chief of police position impacts our entire campus, and we are pleased to have found such an exceptionally qualified candidate," said Dr. Adam Peck, interim vice president for university affairs.

Fields replaces Marc Cossich, who is currently serving as chief of police at the University of West Florida in Pensacola.

Craig Goodman was approved as assistant chief of the SFA department. Since 2015, Goodman has served as chief of police in Brenham after working in a variety of roles at the Pasadena Police Department. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration from SFA and a Master of Science in criminal justice from the University of Houston-Downtown. In 2008, he was selected to participate in the FBI National Academy.

Peck's service as interim vice president also was among the appointments approved by regents. Peck is the SFA dean and assistant vice president for student affairs. Dr. Hollie Gammel Smith, assistant dean, was approved to serve as interim dean of student affairs. Lacey Folsom, director of the Office of Student Engagement, was approved as interim assistant dean of student affairs.

Faculty appointments approved during the regents meeting include Yuan He, assistant professor of elementary education; Jessica Glasscock, instructor of forestry; Timothy Nix, associate professor of computer science; Collin Timmons, lecturer of physics, engineering and astronomy; and Shannon Bowman, librarian II.

In the Department of Athletics, staff appointments approved were Freddie Banks, Kevin Bleil, Wendel Davis, Kincaid Faske, Nathaniel Johnson, Malcolm Kelly, Jared May, Brian Natkin, Scott Power and Matthew Storm, assistant football coaches; Chance Chapman, assistant soccer coach; and Alex Luna, assistant volleyball coach.

Regents also approved the appointments of Alisha Windham, budget analyst; Rayburn Mitchum, development officer II; Jacqueline Conde, hall director; and Benjamin Tucker, student engagement coordinator.

Three staff members within Information Technology Services were approved as programmer/analyst I, including Taylor Day, Michael Deruiter and Justin Mlinar. Regents also approved changes of status within information technology:

Tristan Adams, from programmer/analyst III to manager of ITS development;
Michael Carmical and Charles Fox, from programmer/analyst I to programmer/analyst II;
William Croft, from system programmer II to systems programmer III;
Daniel Davis and Stacy Little, from programmer/analyst II to programmer/ analyst III;
Tracey Foster, from programmer/analyst IV to manager of IT applications;
Joseph Jacobs, from network support specialist I to network support specialist II;
Travis Killen, from systems programmer II to manager of ITS systems;
Kreg Mosier, from manager of library web services to programmer II systems;
Cathy Rhodes, from senior specialist security access to analyst identity management III;
Karrie Roberson, from administrator of library database to systems programmer I;
Scott Speichert, from database administrator III to manager of database administration;
Brandon Stringfield from specialist II to interim chief information security officer;
Henry Wiederhold, from systems programmer I to systems programmer II;
and Tracy Wilbanks, from specialist security access to analyst identity management II.

Additional changes of status approved include:

Sahitya Neeli, from research analyst to senior research analyst; and Katelyn Childress, from graduate assistant to coordinator of student success in academic affairs;
Katie McLain, from analyst in Human Resources to lecturer of government in the College of Liberal and Applied Arts;
Dedra Michalowski, from clerk II to accountant II in the controller's office;
Jessica Barrett, from budget analyst to budget director in the Office of Finance and Administration;
Jeffery Ghiringhelli, from assistant director to associate director, and John Branch, from senior associate athletic director of external affairs to assistant director, physical plant;
and Melissa Turner, from career coordinator to compliance specialist for Title IX compliance.

The board approved the retirements of four individuals who have a combined 92 years of service to the university. Retirements include Chris Barker, associate professor of geology; Jack Ethridge, professor of accounting; David Justus, ITS compliance coordinator; and Donna Mettier, ITS programmer/analyst III.

Stephen F. Austin State University

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