Telecommunications Specialist

“Who is Chris Freeman? you might jest.
Chris embodies the skills and expertise
reminiscent of a small breed of modern-day
renaissance technicians.”

Above, in quotations, is a joke. Maybe before your time.

Since December 1998, Chris has been an integral part of the WVNET Telecommunications Department. Initially stepping in as the primary field technician, Chris has journeyed to every county courthouse and college campus that WVNET has ever supported. His hands-on experience is vast: from installing modem chassis, routers, and switches to maintaining an array of communication equipment.

In his current capacity as the Telecommunications Specialist, Chris wears many hats. Not only does he install, remove, and maintain essential hardware and systems, but he also plays a pivotal role as the Data Center lead. Here, he extends his expertise to mentoring newer technicians, ensuring top-notch customer service, troubleshooting both in-house and on-site, managing phone systems, and addressing the diverse needs of the Data Center.

It’s worth noting that Chris took the lead in installing WVNET’s internal communication cabling—a testament to his hands-on involvement and dedication.

On the personal front, Chris has shared his life’s journey with Laura Freeman since their union in August 1996. Together, they have built a blended family, boasting five children and five grandchildren.

Lead Systems Programmer at WVNET

Verne is a Lead Systems Programmer at WVNET. Verne graduated from Purdue University in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science. He joined us in September 1985 and since then provided more than 36 years of service to the improvement of computational infrastructure for educational institutions in West Virginia. He is responsible for Linux system management, creating virtual machines in a VMware environment, maintaining our public DNS servers, and provides webhosting consulting services to all of our WVNET clients.  Verne cherishes his early days when he worked with his mentor the late George Cook with whom he co-managed the WVNET DEC OpenVMS Cluster and ran the equipment continuously for 18 years without even a minute of downtime.  As part of the initial deployment of Banner in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Verne and co-workers visited the majority of campuses across West Virginia to set up DEC VaxServers running OpenVMS to locally run Banner and later upgrading campuses to 64bit AlphaServers from DEC. Verne has served as the WVNET representative to the Advisory Council of Classified Staff (ACCE) since 2002. ACCE is a state-wide higher education committee comprised of the 23 public colleges and universities in West Virginia that addresses the concerns of higher education employees, matters of institutional policies, legislative and executive branches of state government.

Thank you, Verne, for everything you do to improve the educational infrastructure in our Mountain State!

DegreeWorks Team Lead

Barbara has more than 30 years of experience as a technology professional, working to drive transformation in West Virginia’s higher education and spur adoption of Ellucian’s DegreeWorks degree audit solution.

Barbara’s experience also includes more than a decade working with the Ellucian student information system (better known as Banner). Prior to that, she was a technical writer/editor at WVNET where she was deeply involved in the company’s marketing strategy.

In the early 2000s, Barbara presented how WVNET supports a student information system in a multicampus implementation at the annual SIGUCCS, ACM’s Special Interest Group on University and College Computing Services, Conference.

Barbara has served as a member of the Ellucian Degree Works Customer Advisory Board.  And was recognized by the Appalachian Information Technology Extension Services as a role model for young women interested in information technology.

In addition to her work at WVNET, Barbara has held the position of president of the Monongalia County Master Gardeners Organization.  And is a past member of the Service League of Morgantown – a non-profit organization whose mission is to improve the lives of Monongalia county residents through charitable, educational and cultural activities.

Distance learning GUI Specialist and Instructional Designer

Cory has a degree in Web Design & Database Management and has been working with WVNET for over 10 years. Before joining WVNET he worked as Digital solutions coordinator, technical support and as a manager for Cengage Learning for 5 years.

When asked to describe Cory in single phrases, his colleagues and customers described him as “responsive, helpful, creative and fun loving”

Cory is a WV native, born in Fairmont, WV and grew up in Bridgeport. Raised to be a Mountaineer – he loves camping, hiking, fishing, kayaking and loves music (awesome drum player). He loves his 4 dogs and cats. Cory has been integral part of various WVNET’S Distance Learning Initiatives and WVNET’s successful transition from Blackboard to Brightspace.

Accounting Assistant

WVNET wants to shine the spotlight on Libby Cress, Accounting Assistant at WVNET Business Office.

Libby was born and raised in Masontown, WV and graduated from Valley High School, Home of the Pioneers.

She started working at WVNET from 1999 and in her words “I was hired by a wonderful group of people back then. Only Phil Snitz and I are left from the original group. I sure do miss them all and remain friends with them even today”.  She says that working with customers is the highlight of her job and interacting with people from all over the state is that little sunshine in her workday that motivates her to be her best.

She thinks WVNET is a wonderful place to work as it has wonderful people who have a wide set of talent and a joyous outlook in life.

Libby is blessed with 4 beautiful granddaughters, great son-in-law and of course her beautiful daughter. One can’t leave out her wonderful husband of 48 years, Mr. Cress.  She loves bowling and enjoys spending time with her Church and bowling group.

Lead System Administrator

Michael has enjoyed working with hardware and software and joined WVNET as a network operator in 2013. His skillset and desire to learn provided him the opportunity to join the Systems group as a System Administrator in 2017.

In this role he oversaw management of Linux and Windows servers and assisted in Data Center Management. Michael continued to show a proficiency in learning new systems and was promoted to Lead Systems Administrator in 2019 where he continues his previous duties as well as providing service level support for Banner, LMS, Email, Web Services, and core infrastructure. He continues to take on additional roles at WVNET and excels at performing the duties associated with them.

Mike says he enjoys working for WVNET and all the new challenges it presents.