James Gorman, newly hired program director for the WVU Modernization Program
West Virginia University has hired James Gorman as the new director for the WVU Modernization Program following Daniel Dunphy’s exit earlier in the summer of 2024.
Gorman, whose last role was Managing Director with Florida-based Higher Education Administration Advisors LLC, has advised higher education executives on major organizational initiatives related to finance, human resources, technology implementations, facilities management and research administration.
Gorman’s career includes six years as Managing Director of Finance Strategic Projects for the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. There, he oversaw a portfolio of strategic initiatives, including the implementation of Workday Financial Management and Workday Planning, along with supporting processes and related technology solutions.
Gorman also spent two years as Executive Director of Portfolio and Service Management at the University of Chicago, leading initiatives related to IT, HR, Finance, facilities and commercial real estate operations. From 2005 through 2015, he was at the University of Michigan, moving up from project manager to Director of the Finance Project Management Office. Gorman also worked as an IT Business Analyst with Ford Motor Co. He has an MBA from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Texas State University.
Gorman will be responsible for leading and guiding the work in all four of the program workstreams, serving as a liaison between business and technical aspects of projects, planning project stages, and assessing the business implications for each stage of the WVU Modernization Program.
He also will be responsible for monitoring the program’s overall progress to ensure deadlines, standards, budgets and targets are met.
"When I learned about the opportunity to join WVU and lead the Modernization Program, I was impressed by both the breadth of the program and by the amount of foundational work that has been done for this transformation. It is clear to me that WVU is serious about moving forward to a new era of higher education, and I'm very excited to join this great institution and be part of that journey." James Gorman
Gorman’s team includes several key leaders who will apply their knowledge and familiarity with stakeholders’ systems and practices to ensure the program’s success.
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Kristin Floyd will serve as the project management program manager. She will be responsible for all project management activities across the WVU Modernization program’s foundational projects as well as the Workday program’s implementation.
Floyd has been with WVU for more than 20 years. Most recently, she served as an IT program manager within Information Technology Services (ITS).
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Lisa Sharpe serves as the finance program manager. In this role, Sharpe maintains oversight for deliverables during the pre-implementation and implementation phases of the program, including the budget model and budget planning, chart of accounts, procurement and accounting initiatives, among other efforts related to WVU’s Finance function.
Sharpe has 20 years of experience at the University working in various areas, including finance, accounting and supporting academic and research activities. In addition to her role in the program, she serves as the Assistant Vice President of Financial Integrations, leading and collaborating with others on financial and operational initiatives.
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Neeley Clelland serves as the program manager for Talent and Culture. In this role, she oversees the job classification, benefits, recruiting, talent, performance and other human resources initiatives throughout the pre-implementation and implementation phases of the program.
Clelland has been with WVU and a part of the Talent and Culture team for more than 17 years. Previously, she was a project manager within Benefits Strategy.
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Jonathan “Todd” Witter serves as technical program manager for the WVU Modernization Program. Witter and his team are responsible for developing and implementing standards, security, data architecture, reporting, integrations and other technology efforts related to the program.
Witter has been with WVU for more than nine years. He previously served as director of development within ITS. -
Katie Stores and Rosemary Casteel support program management for research. They are responsible for managing the development of the electronic research administration operating model, research systems migration and other research-related activities for the WVU Modernization Program.
Dr. Stores is the assistant vice president for strategy and research. She has been with WVU for more than 16 years and previously served in a variety of leadership roles, including assistant vice president for research administration, director of the Office of Sponsored Programs, and the associate dean for research for the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. Before rejoining WVU in 2021, Dr. Stores was senior director of operations and training at Emory University. She also previously served at the National Institutes of Health as a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services emerging leader and was a fellow at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Casteel currently serves as the director of research systems and operational data service within the Research Office. She joined the Research Office in 2019 and previously worked as an IT and IT audit information security professional at WVU, the University of Nevada, the University of Arizona and Nasdaq.
A program manager for student information will be named later, as the Modernization Program progresses. This person will be responsible for student engagement, student information system implementation, financial aid, advising and other student-focused activities within the program.
Contact modernizationprogram@mail.wvu.edu with any questions.