LAURA FERNANDEZ MORAN
Houston,TX
Summary
Experienced IT leader with expertise in IT management, strategic planning, and project management. Delivers innovative solutions that enhance efficiency and streamline processes. Collaborates with VPs, deans, and senior leadership to align goals and foster communication. Skilled in team development and vendor negotiation. Drives company success through sound decision-making, effective employee engagement, and building strong customer relationships.
Overview
20
20
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Director of Digital Transformation & Innovation
UNIVERSITY OF THE INCARNATE WORD
02.2024 - Current
- Manage an IT team of 16 staff and oversees the annual budget of technology services.
- Present or contribute to quarterly IT reports for the President’s Advisory Committee, Board of Trustees, and Deans
- Led the development and rollout of the first student dashboard application using Ellucian Experience
- Established the Project Management Office (PMO) and introduced project management tools
- Provide Banner support for the main campus and two satellite campuses in Mexico City and Irapuato, Mexico
- Proposed and currently implementing Raptor and Axiom systems to automate transcript delivery for transfer students, eliminating manual data entry in the Registrar’s Office
- Spearheaded the automation of application data imports from ApplyTexas, Common Application, and Common App Transfer using Ellucian Recruit CRM, integrating with Ellucian Banner Document Management (BDM)
- Led the integration and support of the campus-wide master calendar
- Serve on various committees, including the Deans’ Council, Vice Presidential Strategic Initiatives, and the Banner User Group for data governance
- Managed the implementation of MOU partnerships for the School of Professional Studies
- Automated manual processes across the Registrar, Student Success, Financial Aid, and Advising offices, streamlining tasks such as Registration Drop, Academic Standing, Directory Withdrawal, and Course Substitution.
Strategic Project Manager
UNICON INC
01.2022 - 01.2024
- Managed a multi-million-dollar project portfolio for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Developed project proposals, scope of work documents, and budgets while overseeing invoicing for the Foundation’s initiatives
- Led the Credit Mobility rubric project, assessing Arizona State University (ASU) and the University of California, Berkeley’s grant progress
- Collaborated with Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) to manage the Foundation’s quarterly meetings, including agenda preparation, conference setup, and executive session logistics
- Presented to senior Gates Foundation leaders as a subject matter expert on Open Source Software for equity and access
- Served as project manager and subject matter expert for the Digital Holistic Student Success model, delivering research and a presentation for the program manager and Bill Gates
- Acted as Product Owner for Cisco’s Ethical Hacking course, working with the instructional technology team and Cisco’s technical director
- Led an engineering team maintaining and expanding the open-source uPortal project, supporting Texas A&M University - College Station, Cal Poly Pomona, theUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the broader open-source community
- Managed the Competency-Based Education (CBE) technology assessment for the University of Kansas (KU)
- Directed the Learning Information Framework project in partnership with Alvarez & Marsal, coordinating over 30 global educational technology data experts, including representatives from PESC, Credential Engine, MIT, and 1EdTech
Manager of Student Systems
RICE UNIVERSITY
01.2016 - 01.2022
- Supported and managed the Banner SIS, overseeing all integrated campus processes
- Assisted in the implementation of new services, including CourseLeaf, Slate, Axiom, and EAB
- Led the successful launch of a new registration system in Fall 2019, replacing an 18-year-old version to enhance system stability and scalability
- Facilitated the integration of Financial Aid with the Slate Admissions system
- Optimized survey tools by implementing API integrations with Banner ERP
- Contributed to the launch of the first online programs for the Jones School of Business
- Successfully implemented and migrated the entire campus to Duo SSO with Banner Self-Service in February 2020
- Developed and executed a strategic plan to standardize business processes and adopt the latest Banner releases
- Automated student data integrations across multiple offices, including Career Development, Academic Advising, and the Jones School of Business
- Contributed to the Financial and HR separation from Banner to Oracle HCM
Director of Product Support
WHITE WHALE WEB SERVICES
01.2014 - 01.2016
- Managed customer objectives for ongoing product support and development at a higher education marketing and website design startup
- Created Scope of Work (SOW) documents, Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and technical documentation
- Conducted product demonstrations for prospective clients and gathered customer feedback to drive innovation
- Administered client contracts while fostering positive relationships and overseeing implementations
- Maintained a customer-centric approach throughout the entire software development lifecycle (SDLC)
- Strengthened community engagement by hosting collaborative forums within the client community
- Implemented company-wide help desk support tools and analyzed support requests to identify product improvements and new feature opportunities
Sr Enterprise Engineer
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
01.2012 - 01.2014
- Provided primary technical support for functional departments and integrated client-facing applications
- Led the design and development of enterprise-level web portal applications, ensuring programming solutions met software and user requirements, including system interfaces
- Generated technical designs based on specifications and constructed, tested, and assessed application modules
- Analyzed operational processes and suggested procedural improvements
- Managed Linux server administration and maintenance
- Designed and implemented a new version of the campus-wide enterprise portal
- Enabled failover and redundancy in campus systems by implementing a central authentication service (CAS) setup
- Developed custom applications integrated with the Student Information System (Banner Page)
- Led the technical implementation of the document management tool
Sr Software Engineer
SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
01.2005 - 01.2012
- Performed integrations between third-party applications
- Customized scripting to automate administrative tasks
- Monitored operating policies to mitigate risk
- Determined programming approaches, tools, and techniques to meet business requirements
- Translated complex technical concepts into clear, understandable documentation
- Managed the data strategy to align business goals with technical efforts and industry best practices
- Developed and maintained enterprise applications and databases through client needs analysis, requirements gathering, and software system development
- Enhanced campus system security by installing and managing a single sign-on authentication service
- Utilized open-source technologies to design and manage the campus portal
- Customized and monitored the learning management system (LMS) using PHP
Education
Master of Science - Software Engineering
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
Corpus Christi, TexasBachelor of Science - Computer Science
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
Corpus Christi, TexasSkills
- Organizational development
- Customer service
- Staff training and development
- Team collaboration and leadership
- Innovation management
- Strategies and goals
- Operations management
- Project coordination
- Budget management
- Client relations
Certification
- Certified Scrum Master
- Certified Product Owner
- MOR Associates Leaders Program
- Project Management Program, Cornell University
ACHIEVEMENTS
- 2023, Publication in EDUCAUSE Horizon Report, Student Holistic Experience
- 2022, Dolphin Fellowship Award, Apereo Foundation
- 2010, Jasig Apereo Fellowship Award
- 2007, CASE District IV Award
Affiliations
- APEREO FOUNDATION, Board of Directors, Served on the Board of Directors for an open-source software developer community focused on higher education.
- APEREO FOUNDATION, Member, Member of the uPortal Project Steering Committee (2018 – 2024)
- APEREO FOUNDATION, Documentation Coordinator, (2010 – 2014)
- APEREO FOUNDATION, Chair, Chair of the Conference Planning Committee (2012 – 2014), leading annual conferences.
Timeline
Director of Digital Transformation & Innovation
UNIVERSITY OF THE INCARNATE WORD
02.2024 - Current
Strategic Project Manager
UNICON INC
01.2022 - 01.2024
Manager of Student Systems
RICE UNIVERSITY
01.2016 - 01.2022
Director of Product Support
WHITE WHALE WEB SERVICES
01.2014 - 01.2016
Sr Enterprise Engineer
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
01.2012 - 01.2014
Sr Software Engineer
SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
01.2005 - 01.2012
Master of Science - Software Engineering
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
Bachelor of Science - Computer Science
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
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