The Business Information Systems Business Advisory Council was created to:
- Provide a business perspective to assist the faculty in the Department of Management in designing and implementing a relevant and timely management information systems curriculum.
- Serve as a resource to faculty and students to ensure that students develop the knowledge and skills necessary to become effective employees and meet the changing needs of the greater Arkansas community.
- Provide a leadership role in development activities for the department.
Council Members
Rodney Bechdoldt
Affiliation: Executive Director of Mortgage Loan Servicing, Arvest Mortgage
Rodney Bechdoldt joined Arvest / Central Mortgage Company in 2004 and is currently Senior Vice President/Mortgage Systems Manager. He is responsible for managing the Mortgage Systems Division, which supports the servicing operations of Central Mortgage Company and Arvest Mortgage Company in addition to the Loan Origination systems of Arvest Mortgage Company.
Rodney’s primary responsibilities include providing systems support, acquisition data conversion routines and custom development to the Central Mortgage Company and Arvest Mortgage Company operations. Additionally, new product implementations, system upgrades, enhancements and testing are among many of the activities included in Rodney’s initiatives.
Bob Daws
Affiliation: Director of IT Architecture and Operations, Dillards
Joe Codemo
Affiliation: Lead Programmer / Analyst, Southwest Power Pool
Joe Codemo currently holds the position of Leader Programmer/Analyst at Southwest Power Pool. He has worked in the IT industry for more than 20 years, and has been working with computers for more than 30 years. Joe has worked in roles as diverse as application development, database administration, supervisor, risk management, compliance and system architect. He has experience working in IT in healthcare, direct marketing, customer relationship management, and most recently the electrical utility industry.
Joe received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Arkansas Tech University and the Master of Science in Management Information Systems from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma, an honorary business organization in 2008.
Wayne Crolley
Affiliation: Area Manager-SOL Architecture (Arkansas), AT&T
Wayne Crolley joined AT&T in 2000 and currently serves as Director of Global Business Development for the AT&T Unified Communications Center of Excellence. His role is to serve as liaison between customers and AT&T sales resources and to align customer needs with the products and services in the AT&T Unified Communications portfolio.
Wayne holds a Bachelors of Science in Information Technology as well as an MBA in Management and Strategy. He has contributed to the AT&T Intellectual Property portfolio with eight awarded patents as well as six filed submissions currently under review by the US Patent and Trademark Office for various location‐based solution designs.
Jeff Dean
Affiliation: Chief Operating Officer, Arkansas Dept of Human Services
Simon Dobretsov
Affiliation: Director of Business Intelligence, Arkansas Heart Hospital
Paul Ford
Affiliation: Arkansas Dept of Finance & Administration
Kevin Grace
Affiliation: Deputy Chief Information Officer, Arkansas Department of Human Services
Barbara Harris
Affiliation: Director, IT–Business and Financial Systems, Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp.
Kim Henderson
Affiliation: Vice President of Information Systems, Blue Cross Blue Shield
Kim Henderson is the Director of Information Systems for Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. She is responsible for the management of the Private Business Operating systems application portfolio and programming staff. These applications include Claims, Customer Accounts and Membership, Customer Service, Marketing, Financial and Provider.
Kim also assists in the delivery of consolidated business solutions and is actively involved in the Arkansas ICD10 strategy and efforts. Kim has over 30 years of Health IT experience with the Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plan. She also serves as a board member of the University of Arkansas Information Technology Research Institute and is a member of the national Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) Patient Engagement workgroup.
Kris Huckaba
Affiliation: Manager of IT Operations, Crews & Associates
Kendall Kirby
Affiliation: Vice President–Technology Solutions, USAble Life
Lewis Langston
Affiliation: CIO, Windstream Communications, Inc.
Shawn McGhee
Affiliation: Oracle
Lyle Nicholson
Affiliation: Tyson Foods Inc.
Rod Smith
Affiliation: Arkansas Children’s Hospital
Dave Spickard
Affiliation: Euronet Worldwide
Dennis Strobel
Affiliation: Baptist Health
