UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS HIRES NEW ASSISTANT VICE CHANCELLOR

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - University of Arkansas Enrollment Services has hired Randy Apon for its brand new position as assistant vice chancellor and director of Integrated Student Information Systems.

As the director of the ISIS project, he will oversee the creation of specifications and design of a new campus-based integrated student information system for the UA campus.

"I'm truly excited to have this opportunity to participate in a project of this scope and significance to the campus," Apon said. "Everyone wants his or her work to matter. This is a great chance for me to make a difference for our campus."

Apon said the new information system is a huge software system that resides on the campus administrative mainframe. He said admissions data, recruitment data, scholarship awards and financial aid awards are handled by the software system, as well as fees paid by students, student housing information and registration for classes, grades and graduation requirements.

"The significance of this project is so great that it is hard to capture in words," Apon said. "Everything about a student that needs to be remembered is entered into and handled by the student information system software. The impact, then, to the student is that these crucial aspects of a student's interaction with the University will either be greatly helped by a good software system or greatly hindered by a poor software system."

The system will also keep reporting information for federal and state agencies and any data concerning a student's relationship to the University.

Apon has more than 10 years experience in administration and information technology, including expertise in the computer arena in hardware, operating systems, software, networking and technical writing.

Reporting to Arlene Cash, dean of enrollment services, Apon will represent the University with external project consultants, developers, agencies, and hardware and software vendors.

Apon has worked on the UA campus in University IT Services since 1998. He joined the University as a project/program specialist-campus Y2K coordinator, where he created and wrote a campus-wide plan to take the University to Y2K compliance. He then served as project/program specialist as campus biennial IT plan 2000 coordinator, where he created, wrote and presented a campus-wide Information Technology plan covering FY01 and FY02 to vice chancellors and the Arkansas Department of Information Systems.

Most recently, Apon continued his work in University IT Services as database administrator, writing documentation for use of the database, preparation for the environment for the use of the database in the classroom setting and user support.

Before coming to Fayetteville and the U of A, Apon spent a large majority of his life in Nashville, Tenn., where he worked for CNA Life Insurance, ExecuTrain of Nashville and the Baptist Sunday School Board.