Key personnel coordinate MCIT’s educational initiatives, consult with its business partners, and coordinate conferences for the professional development of the region’s IT educators.

Dennis Kirlin, Principal Investigator

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Dennis provides oversight for the MCIT project, focusing on cultivating continued involvement of business leaders and Chief Educational Officers from the MCIT colleges.

Dennis is the former Dean of Business and Information Technology at Iowa Western Community College. During his 25 years of experience as a community college IT educator and administrator, Dennis has gained valuable experience in developing business/education partnerships for customized IT training. He is an active member of the Iowa Vocational Education Association.

Dennis holds an M.Ed. in Computers in Education from Lesley University and a B.S. in Mathematics from Creighton University.

John Jeanetta, Co-Principal Investigator

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John leads MCIT’s Curriculum Adaptation and Emerging Technologies Teams. He also provides overall day-to-day management of the MCIT project, coordinates the teams, provides logistic support, organizes professional development activities, and assists in collecting and analyzing data.

John serves as Vice President of Organizational Development at the AIM Institute. Previously, he served as the Director of Development for Metropolitan Community College. He also worked as a community development officer for the United States Peace Corps, serving in Belize, Central America.

John received an MBA in Executive Leadership from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln / Gallup University in 2007, received an M.S. in Social Work from Columbia University and a B.S., Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 

Tom Pensabene, Co-Principal Investigator

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Tom facilitates the work of MCIT’s Lateral Diffusion Team.

Tom serves as the Dean of Computer and Visual Arts at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha , Nebraska. Tom has 23 years of experience in project management, instructional systems design, and knowledge utilization. He specializes in the design and delivery of instructional media. Tom is a Certified Distance Educator II.

Tom holds an an Ed.D. in Instructional Psychology and Technology from the University of Oklahoma , an M.A. in Rehabilitation Psychology from the University of Kansas, and a B.A. in Psychology from Tarkio College.

Jeff Watne, Co-Principal Investigator

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Jeff facilitates the work of MCIT’s Curriculum Adaptation Team.

Jeff is the Department Chair/Associate Professor of Computer Information Systems at North Dakota State College of Science. Jeff has 24 years of experience in teaching and administration in a community college environment. He has worked as a consultant for business and industry for 30 years. Jeff is a Certified NetWare Instructor and a Certified NetWare Engineer – NetWare 4.

Jeff graduated from North Dakota State University with an M.S. in Business and Information Systems and a B.S. in Computer Science. He also holds an A.S. in Computer Programming from North Dakota State College of Science.

Dave Vankat

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Dave coordinates the Working Connections IT Conference for MCIT.

Dave serves as Project Manager at the Applied Information Management (AIM) Institute. He has 15 years of experience in technical and non-technical project management, including large-scale conferences and events.

Dave earned a B.S. in Industrial and Management Systems Engineering at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln.