PhD, Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• I begin this program in the fall of 2008

MA , Sociology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Masters paper: The Facebook Project: Performance and Construction of Digital Identity
• Achieved a place on the list of teachers ranked as excellent by their students twice
• Started and currently run The Facebook Project, a collaborative research project

BA , Honors, Sociology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Senior Projects: New Revolutions: Integrating Information Technology into Contemporary Civil Rights Movements and Facebook.com: Social Computing Phenomena.
• Minor in computer science
• Sociology GPA of 3.61 (A-), overall GPA of 3.21 (B+), Deans List standing 3 semesters

H.S. Diploma, Glenbard West High School, Glen Ellyn, IL

• Graduated with a 4.8 GPA in the top 20% of our class, numerous AP/honors/seminar courses
• Participated in Chess Club, Amnesty International and the Forensics speech team

Remarkable Graduate Courses

• Methods: Survey Research; Qualitative Research; Intermediate Statistics
  • Three methods courses: Sociology 485 (stats), 480 (surveys), and 583 (advanced qualitative)
  • Learned and practiced fundamental survey, ethnography and interview research skills including planning, testing, data collection/analysis and publication
  • Good coverage of introductory statistics, including Chi-square analysis, confidence intervals and other standard tests of statistical significance and independence
  • Developed additional familiarity with SPSS 14/15
  • Developed and pursued individual research to contribute to the Facebook Project
• Classical Sociological Theory; History and Foundations in Library and Information Science
  • Two courses in essential theory: Classical Sociological, and History and Foundations in Library and Information Science
  • Gained advanced understanding of the major classical sociology theorists (Tocqueville, Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Simmel)
  • Read works on the most crucial underpinning aspects of LIS
  • Met and learned about several prominent writers in the field
  • Improved paper writing and development skills;
• Art Interactivity and Interface Design
  • An innovative art course focused on bringing art into a online and interactive format
  • Discussed the application of STS and art theory to web site interactivity
  • Learned how to comprehensively use Macromedia Flash 8 in a collaborative learning and working environment
• Race, Ethnicity and Identity
  • A course providing a refreshing look on race and ethnicity in the US and how they figure into the construction and transformation of identity
  • Familiarized with major names and theory in the field of research
  • Developed a comprehensive paper related to the perpetuation of racial structures in social computing environments

Notable Undergraduate Courses

• Computer Science 496 Designing Accessible Web Resources
  • Graduate course in advanced web design focused on designing, creating, and maintaining web sites accessible to people with disabilities
  • Helped to construct a new web site for Beckwith Hall, the assisted living residence hall on campus
  • www.jag85.com/beckwith
• Sociology 496 Sex and Madness – Teaching Assistant work
  • Worked as a teaching assistant leading a discussion group in both an online and in-person environments – made specific effort to help students in my discussion in the class
  • Created an honors film project demonstrating a potential distopia society
  • www.sexandmadness.com
• African American Studies 398 Black Leadership Development
  • Established a valuable non-standard perspective as a progressive white thinker in a black dominated class – empowering students with additional resources and anti-white nationalist ideals
  • Created a plan for integrating IT into black leadership and civil rights in the AASRP program
  • Helped to facilitate (staff) the Race, Roots, and Resistance Conference at UIUC
  • www.jag85.com/afro
• Other Relevant Academic Skills
  • Classroom experience with art and graphic design fundamentals
  • Elementary Spanish speaking, reading, and writing skills
  • Computer architecture, data structures, software principles, and introductory discrete math
  • Senior Honors Seminar exploring Science, Technology and Society from a Posthumanist sociology perspective

I've been involved in numerous volunteer leadership positions over the course of my academic career. See the most important ones below - click on an item to read the details.

• Avalanche (2004-2005)
  • Planned, created, and ran the organization known as Avalanche – a community based solution to the social problem of college-age drinking
  • A group committed to giving students activity opportunities with which they can spend their weekend nights as a superior alternative to alcohol or drinking related activities
  • Established Avalanche’s presence as a large scale and highly successful community program, developed contacts and operational procedures, formed up a leadership board, managed and procured resources, designed, structured and implemented advertising plans, and finally inspired and empowered the students who took part in activities
  • Events ranged from small scale 15 person programs like creating valentines for the elderly to massive 130 person open mic nights – the Avalanche ‘brand name’ became well known
  • www.shavalanche.com
• Association of Undergraduate Sociologists (2003-2008)
  • Helped to plan, create and run the Sociology club for the University of Illinois – a registered student organization dedicated to enacting as a resource for sociology majors, minors, and enthusiasts, as well as a provider of career and internship information, research studies and volunteer and outreach programs
  • Worked as an Executive Advisor and President of the group
  • Helped to recruit and organize numerous members, create and run the web site, and plan and execute nearly all club activities
  • Served for a couple of years as a graduate advisor
  • www.jag85.com/soc
• Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance (2005-2008)
  • Resource Management and Web Design officer on the Executive Board
  • Coordinated the Faces of Feminism discussion panel, created the web site, helped lead a protest, attended the Midwest Feminist Majority Conference
  • www.jag85.com/femmajority
  • Served for a couple of years as a graduate advisor
• Sexual Health Peers (2005-2006)
  • Volunteered as a Sexual Health coordinator and workshop presenter as part of the campus organization (an extension of the McKinley Health Foundation), planned and led many events
  • www.jag85.com/SHP
• Snyder Hall Council (2002-2005)
  • Served as an officer for 3 years while I lived in the residence halls – first year as a floor representative, second year as treasurer, and third year as vice president
  • Helped to establish many new programs and events, including volleyball, wallyball, Frisbee, swimming, and helped to lead Snyder Hall Impact, a volunteering and outreach program
• Double Hitters Anonymous Volleyball (2003-present)
  • Created and ran the Double Hitters Anonymous Volleyball Registered Student Organization, a group for casual and competitive play
  • Worked as a coach, leader, and connector, playing 2-3 days a week
  • www.jag85.com/volleyball
• Inline Insomniacs (2003-present)
  • Skating club community dedicated to night time inline skating and related events
  • Participated as a general member for 2 years, currently holding the position of Morale Officer on the executive board
  • Helped to introduce new ideas and skating routes into the organization, recruit new members, and assist in creating community
• Positive Event Chain (2006-present)
  • An activist organization about creating positive chains of events
  • Relay for Life team captain, web master enthusiastic member
• Boy Scouts of America (high school, 1989-2002)
  • Obtained the rank of Eagle Scout, Served in many troop positions and ranks
  • 6 years in Cub Scouts, 8 years in Boy Scouts, plus additional Venture Scouts

University of Illinois RSC Network Technician

• Consistently provide in-depth technical support to University Housing students
• Trouble-shoot real world problems, working with both hardware and software in a live in-person working environment
• Explain and teach residents about campus technology policies and opportunities, answering questions of all sorts, even those unrelated to computers
• Help residents learn to effectively use and trouble-shoot their own computer, as well as how to best ask for assistance with the ultimate objective of helping them learn to stand on their own
• Host lab hours a few days a week working with RSC staff and helping to maintain labs

CDW IT Help Desk Technician Intern

• Provided floor responses to technical problems of many sorts – directly diagnosing, understanding and remedying issues involving computers, printers, phones, and networking
• Helped to run the Help Desk configuration lab – conducting computer repair and refurbishing as well as mass configuration and installation operations
• Spent time helping to keep the warehouse storage area clean and assisted in recycling older phased out material – learned use of warehouse tools as well as etiquette
• Helped to teach employees how to use various programs and computer systems

ROC Group Web Designer and Developer Intern

• Developing a strong foundation for web development principles and concepts
• Experience programming in Visual Basic 6 and Dreamweaver MX for data driven web applications – learned crucial validation and information passing principles
• Learned some basics about ASP.NET, SQL and the use of MS Access databases
• Developing a strong foundation for web development principles and concepts
• Received experience designing presentation diagrams, animations, graphics and design frameworks

Technical Skills - Software

• High level of familiarity: Windows 9x/ME/2k/XP/Vista, MS Office 97/2k/XP/2k3/2k7 (Word, Excel, Power Point, Publisher, etc…), Adobe programs (Dreamweaver and Fireworks 8/CS2/CS3, and LiveMotion 2). I've used MS Frontpage/Sharepoint Designer in conjunction with MS Access and Visual Studio.NET to create data/search-driven websites.
• Significant experience with several Adobe programs (Flash, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Premiere), trouble-shooting Anti-virus (Symantec & McAfee), Audio Recording/Editing software (Cakewalk Home Studio, various vst/dxi synths/pluggins, SoundForge), Windows Movie Maker, and comprehensive knowledge of all mainstream web browsers
• Extensive familiarity with HTML (XHTML) and CSS; limited familiarity with C++, Java, Visual Basic 6, SQL, Javascript, ASP.NET, Flash ActionScript 2.0, and XML
• In-depth knowledge of troubleshooting principles, concepts, and methods (technician skills)
• Impressive web management skills, solid understanding of elegant, user-oriented design, content management and organization, and web development (web skills)
• Moderate experience creating/recording/editing audio (vocal, acappella, instrumental) and filming/editing movies (producer skills)

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Technical Skills - Hardware

• High level of familiarity configuring and repairing computers – both laptops and desktops.
• Expert experience troubleshooting hardware difficulties of all kinds
• Basic understanding of hardware architecture  (processor and system design)
• High familiarity with brands and cutting edge hardware technologies