The Computer Information Systems Department at Sinclair has seen a change in its leadership beginning this Winter Quarter.
Reece Newman, an assistant professor in the department since late 2010, has been appointed chair to replace Martha Taylor, who has served as chair for the last four years.
Newman has taught a number of software development classes and will continue teaching this quarter with a reduced course load. He said he would be taking on more classes after he gets used to the additional responsibilities of his new position.
“I’m brand new at this,” he says. “I’ve never been chair before.”
Newman does have extensive experience as a manager in the private sector. As a manager of applications software development at Automated Data Processing (ADP) for seven years, he both worked as a programmer and managed a team of software engineers.
Newman is excited about the challenges of the new role, noting that academia functions much differently than private enterprise.
“It’s not like being a manager at your typical private enterprise company, where you give orders and they have to be followed… the faculty are autonomous,” Newman said. “But we have a very cooperative faculty in this department, so I’m sure they’ll accommodate my requests.”
Newman said that he finds the academic environment “more cordial and more fun” though “not less demanding” than working for a software company.
“Frankly, I wish I’d been at Sinclair for the past 35 years instead of being in private enterprise,” Newman said. “I love this place.”
Martha Taylor, the previous chair, will remain an associate professor in the department and will continue to teach courses. She also has a position in the Real Estate Department, where she will be expanding her role. Taylor asked to step down from her position in order to return to the classroom.
“I wanted to go back to teaching,” says Taylor. “This gives me more of a chance to work with and interact with students.”
“I think she’ll do a splendid job over in real estate, and she continues to do a splendid job here,” says Newman.
Newman has goals for improvement during the next academic year which include writing secure programs and developing curriculum for mobile applications like smart phones, tablet PCs and iPads.
“If middle school kids are using mobile technologies, and in some cases elementary school kids are, I think we need to be teaching it,” says Newman. “It’s very hot.”
Newman is excited about being able to both teach and help shape the department as an administrator.
He says that in his past job, he found it was good to both keep up with the latest technology by practicing programing and understand the administrative side of things.
“They were complimentary,” he said. “So they worked together to broaden my understanding and effectiveness as a manger. I think that the same thing will happen here.”