ITS Enterprise Application’s Mechelle Clayton has been named Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor of the ITS division.
Clayton, whose permanent role is director of non-PeopleSoft applications in support of Finance and Operations, the Friday Center and ITS, took the helm of Enterprise Applications as the interim leader, effective October 1.
As Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor Mechelle is responsible for ITS management of the University’s administrative systems: the ConnectCarolina Student Administration; Finance, Human Resources and Payroll system and related applications such as ImageNow and Web Travel; and a portfolio of University Services applications, including those serving Finance and Operations; ITS; The Friday Center for Continuing Education, and TouchNet (electronic payments).
Fran Dykstra, who had led Enterprise Applications for nearly six years, retired September 30.
Entire career with UNC
Clayton has served ITS and UNC-Chapel Hill for 31 years. She began her career with ITS the fall after graduating from Carolina with a degree in math and a concentration in computer science.
For three decades, Calyton has held roles in which she supported, developed and managed the applications that support University operations as well as the teams that manage those applications.
“Mechelle’s depth of experience with the vast and sundry organizations of the University, their characteristic functions, the applications that support them, and strong orientation to help and serve our partnering campus units, will be foundational as we consider next steps for Enterprise Applications,” said J. Michael Barker, Interim Vice Chancellor for IT and Chief Information Officer.
Clayton, he added, “is well acquainted with the operational facts of how we serve, and what we must deliver, for the ongoing function of our institution; Mechelle is in tune not just with the direction of Enterprise Applications, but with its work, too.”
Institutional knowledge
Because Clayton has worked at ITS for such a long time, she knows the history of the applications and remembers why something is done the way it is.
Clayton’s first UNC-Chapel Hill job was Computer Operator, when she was the first and only Service Desk staff person.
“So right at the start, Mechelle was oriented to how campus users interacted with our business systems — she learned at a high level how the applications of the University support its operations, and also how our users experience them,” Barker said.
In addition to managing the team supporting Facilities Services and Energy Services, Clayton has managed the team supporting FRS (the primary financial application prior to ConnectCarolina), Payroll, and TIM (Time Information Management, Kronos) in advance of the ConnectCarolina project. Clayton served on the steering committee for the implementation of both TIM and DAVIE (Database for Advancing our Vision of Institutional Excellence) and assisted the IT staff of the University Development Office on interfaces with ConnectCarolina.
She is a member of the CERTIFI (electronic payments/PCI) committee that meets with departments across campus on accepting credit cards via their departmental applications.
For a decade, Clayton also has worked on internal and external audits, meeting with contacts across campus to ensure that ITS policies are implemented University wide.