Who's who
Here are some of the people who are working on the TOP project:
Mathew Mathai - Project Director
Director - Blacksburg Electronic Village
Responsible for the overall supervision and direction of the project.
Mathew began his career at Virginia Tech in 1989 and has handled a variety of responsibilities that have included project management, computer programming, network design, network management, and computer systems integration. He has a strong commitment to community involvement, which is confirmed by his past service. He has volunteered as a Hotline volunteer at the Raft Community Crisis Center in the New River Valley. He also served in an advisory capacity with The Community Foundation of the New River Valley (CFNRV). As a Fellow of the CFNRV EAGLES program for grassroots leadership development, Mathew engaged in regular dialogue with other New River Valley citizens with the objective of enhancing the quality of life in the community. In 2003, Mathew was awarded the rank of Fellow by the Academy for Leadership Excellence at Virginia Tech in recognition of outstanding leadership development.
He has earned a B.E., Electronics, from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, and a M.S., Computer Science and Applications, from Virginia Tech. During a brief, five year absence from Virginia Tech, he served as the Director of Technology Planning & Integration for a local high-tech firm and consulted in the areas of information systems planning and integration, IT infrastructure development, web site architecture and design, network design and security, and computer education and training.
Dr. Eleanor Schlenker - Program Leadership (VCE)
Extension Associate Director for Family and Consumer Sciences and Community Initiatives - VCE
Project related responsibilities include working with area specialists and local agents in fulfillment of their project responsibilities.
Dr. Eleanor Schlenker became the Extension Associate Director for Family and Consumer Sciences and Community Initiatives in Spring 2002. She came to Virginia Tech in 1988 and prior to joining Extension was a Department Head and Professor in Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise in the College of Human Resources and Education. Eleanor has worked with community programs for older people, school programs related to health, and the Appalachian Cancer Network in Virginia. She is especially interested in the use of technology to assist individuals and families who are seeking appropriate and reliable information in the areas of nutrition, health, financial management, housing, parenting, child and elder care, or starting a home-base business.
Jaime Shetrone - Program Coordinator
Internet Technology Specialist- Blacksburg Electronic Village
Project related responsibilities include coordinating all project related activities, maintaining (this) Web site that documents these activities, the initial design and development of county network sites, training TLT members, and assisting with final reports.
Jaime comes to the BEV with several years of experience in web site development and instructional technologies. She has received a B.S. in Business Communications from Bentley College and is working towards a M.S. in Instructional Technology at Virginia Tech. Jaime has previously worked at Duke University, Bentley College, and the JASON Foundation for Education.
Pam Gibson - Project liaison to agents and communities
Program Manager - School of Public and International Affairs (Virginia Tech)
Project related responsibilities include providing in depth support to VCE agents, collecting data for benchmark assessments, assisting in program evaluation and assisting with final reports.
Pam Gibson is Program Manager for the Institute for Innovative Governance (www.iig.vt.edu) in the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech (VPI & SU) and a Research Associate in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. She has worked in the area of Community Development and Governmental Operations for the University since 1989. During this time, Pam has organized and conducted seminars and workshops to support local, regional, state, and community operations; directed and prepared comprehensive personnel classification systems; lead strategic planning programs, budget training programs, organizational and personnel performance evaluation programs. In addition, Pam manages a comprehensive data system from which she prepares economic and financial trend profiles, educational trend analysis, and legislative profiles for localities and regions of Virginia.
Pam's passion is citizen participation in community planning programs such as Take Charge. Recent research has been centered upon the use of technology as a means for citizen participation and using quality of life indicators as a basis for community planning locally and internationally.
Pam has a Master of Urban Affairs from Virginia Tech, a Bachelor of Arts in English from Roanoke College and has been a student in the doctoral program in the Center for Public Administration and Policy at Virginia Tech.
Dr. Michael Lambur - Program Evaluation
Extension Project Leader and Professor - Department of Agricultural and Extension Education (Virginia Tech)
Project related responsibilities include performing assessments, designing assessment instruments, analyzing assessment results and assisting with final reports.
Key responsibilities include Extension Project Leader for the department, Director of the Extension Programming Institute, and coordinator of the Federal Planning and Reporting System. He also provides evaluation assistance and training to field and campus faculty. He is the program evaluator for the Virginia Children, Youth, and Families at Risk Program and directed the National Cost Benefit Analysis of the Expanded Foods and Nutrition Education Program Study. He co-directed the National Higher Ground Project and he was the first Editor of the electronic Journal of Extension (1994-95). Prior to joining VCE in 1985, he was an Extension Specialist in Program Evaluation and a County Agricultural Agent with the Michigan Cooperative Extension Service. He received his PhD and MS degrees from Michigan State University and his BS from The Ohio State University. He enjoys playing golf, working on old Saabs, reading, and listening to jazz.
VCE Agents - Local Leadership and Support
Project related responsibilities include providing leadership to local citizen teams (Technology Leadership Teams), coordinating project related activities in their respective counties and providing status reports to the various stakeholders in their counties.
Pauline
Milbourne- Accomack
Deborah Snead (retired) - Craig
Van Petty (retired) - Cumberland
Phyllis
Deel - Dickenson
Alinda
Uzel - King & Queen
Sarah
Cooper - Louisa
Brenda
Holden and Jennifer
Haycox - Northampton
