Fox sees 'bright future' for students

Editor's note: This is the first in a series about the many faces of Marshall. If you know someone with a story to tell, please contact The Parthenon.

From her third floor office in the John Deaver Drinko Library, Jan I. Fox has a better view of the campus than the university president.

Although sunlight streams in the floor-to-ceiling windows, Fox's perspective on the future of Marshall is bright for other reasons as well.

Fox carries the titles of vice president for information technology and chief information officer. Her departments are responsible for administrating computing services, the libraries and related instructional technologies.

Fox says her goal is for the needs of the corporate world and the needs of the student body to coincide.

Fox said Marshall students were largely responsible for the recent announcement by Amazon.com, an online book retailer, that it would open a local facility.

"The Amazon.com representatives came to Marshall and walked through the campus and talked to students and saw how bright they are; they saw students using the computers knowledgeably," Fox said. "The students really sold the community to them."

Amazon.com will recruit students for both full-time and part-time jobs and will bring in an outside firm to interview prospective candidates.

"A repository of bright, and I mean really bright, students is what's needed to bring more business to the region," Fox said. "Students don't have to possess the core set of abilities already, but merely be intelligent enough to pick up the skill sets. When we have this repository, the individual students will be more marketable and the area will benefit, too."

Computer programs called CBT modules are one way students can train themselves to enhance their marketability, Fox said.

"It's not always degrees," she said. "Companies are also looking for certification. And the training students need for certification is available, here and now, for anyone who wants it."

CBT training modules are available for topics such as CISCO, Java Programming and Microsoft Exams. A complete list of programs is available at http://multimedia.marshall.edu/CBTWEB.

Another way Fox would like to enhance prospects for regional growth is to establish a Web site showcasing various types of student projects.

"I'd love to have a way to feature and focus on the talent here, for students to be able to show their wares," Fox said.

In addition to providing information resources, Fox wants to make them more easily accessible to students.

"I'd also like to produce a promotional video to be shown on the instructional television system that would show a student going through all the processes, in detail, of where to go to find various types of information," Fox said.