Carol Landry - Manager

Carol Landry earned her undergraduate degree in Education with a specialization in Mathematics from the University of Texas. She worked as a middle school math teacher for several years in the Austin area.

Since Carol had been an educator for several years she had strong organization and communication skills. She decided to enroll in the MATC program because her new position required a considerable amount writing and she wanted to improve her skills.

In 2000, she applied for and was selected to participate in pilot program offered by the State of Texas. The program was developed by Billy Hamilton, Deputy Comptroller at the Comptroller of Public Accounts agency, to attract people to government technology.

The concept was that students selected for the program would receive information technology training and then be placed in entry-level positions with state agencies in the information technology field. In exchange, the students agreed to remain with the agency for at least two years. Carol was selected for the Texas Department of Insurance and has been with the agency for seven years. She is now Manager for the Project Management Office and Division Support.

Carol is one of four managers within the Information Technology Services division at the Texas Department of Insurance who report to the Director of Information Technology Services (ITS). The ITS division provides technology support for the entire agency, which consists of about 1,800 staff members. The group she manages is a diverse a group of 18 people and is composed of four subgroups: project management, systems analysis, division administration, and contract management.

She manages a busy schedule by using an electronic calendar to schedule and prioritize her workload. As a manager involved with both the budget and with all ITS projects, she attends many meetings that also double as work sessions. Communication is a common theme throughout all of the tasks and projects that she works on and the division relies on her team to ensure that the project or the technology component has been clearly communicated.

Outside of projects, Carol and her team also create and finalize all emails that are broadcast to the entire agency about technology as well as technology documents to help their customers understand aspects of technology that are important to them. They employ many methods for this: formal user documentation, information security newsletters, posters, and "Technical Tip" Intranet pages.

During her time in the MATC program, Carol learned how to present information in an effective and efficient manner and credits MATC with advancing her career.

"I attribute much of this growth to my ability to contribute to the division by being able to understand information technology, not at the level of the technicians and systems analysts, but well enough to be able to write about the topic and organize the information into the planning and reporting documents that are needed," said Carol.

For students in MATC she advises that they take the time to become familiar with any type of software that they can access.

"Not only will you learn about the software itself, you will be able to observe how you navigate new software...after awhile you develop a confidence of finding your way around the software," said Carol.

Outside of work, Carol spends time with her family and has a passion for travel. In 2007 she visited New England all the way from Maine to New York City, San Francisco to watch Barry Bonds hit a home run, England, Scotland, Wales, and Colorado to visit her daughter and ski. Future trips will include Washington, DC to see the sights and watch the Dallas Cowboys play the Washington Redskins and to Tanzania, Africa to visit my son who is in the Peace Corps.

She also enjoys sculling on Town Lake, riding her bike, and yoga, her new way to relax. 

Amber Rigney - Senior Editor

Amber Rigney graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts in English from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. She decided to enroll in the MATC program to expand her job opportunities and further develop her writing, editing, and computer design skills.  Prior to entering the MATC program, Amber worked as an editor at Holt, Rinehart and Winston, an educational textbook company for grades six through twelve. The program helped achieve her goals of improving her writing and editing skills and also boosted her career with a promotion to Senior Editor at Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 

As Senior Editor, Amber edits and manages the creation of stat-specific materials that accompany the English and Language Arts textbooks. A typical day for her consists of meetings, planning projects, working with vendors, editing, and providing feedback on various materials.

During her free time, Amber enjoys spending time with her family, working in the garden and other activities such as reading, quilting, and hiking.