CSC Faculty

B.S., Elizabeth City State University; M.S., Indiana University at Bloomington

Bio:

JerNettie Burney graduated from Elizabeth City State University with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics. She obtained her masters’ from Indiana University-Bloomington in Human-Computer Interaction and design.

Much of her interest in research stemmed from the competitiveness in her master’s program, which required students to be fluid in problem discovery, critical thinking, and innovative solutions. As a result, she is interested in creating technologies in interdisciplinary fields. Technology utilization has become an integral part of any discipline’s daily routine and those in the computer science field must work with practitioners to design and implement technologies which can lead to greater solutions.

JerNettie believes that everyone who works in the technology field needs to have flexibility. Working with computers means essentially working with different backgrounds, personalities, and cultures to create the optimal product. Though skills are major assets, skill without knowledge of the targeted group or area will not produce an effective solution. Through research, social interactions, and iterative designing, a product can become an essential part of a user’s daily life in the long term. Usability is a must.

Some of JerNettie’s favorite hobbies are reading books, playing logic games, writing, and watching movies.

B.S., M.S., Ph.D., University of Southwestern Louisiana

Bio:

Dr. Chan earned his Ph.D. in computer science from University of Southwestern Louisiana (now known as University of Louisiana at Lafayette) in 1994. He joined Methodist University as a faculty member in the Computer Science Department in 2001. He is a tenured professor of computer science and has been serving as Dean of College of Business, Technology, and Professional Studies since 2020. Courses he has taught include Intro to Programming, GUI development, Operating Systems Concepts, Database Management Systems, Data Structures/Algorithms, Theory of Computation, System Design and Analysis, and Web Programming. He served as chair of the computer science department from 2005-2011. As department chair, he led the effort to restructure the Computer Information Technology (CIT) program and added a concentration in Interactive Multimedia Application Development in the CIT major. He served as Dean of School of Science and Human Development from 2011-2020. As school dean, he contributed to the university’s initiative of founding an engineering program at Methodist University. He started the summer STEM Camp at Methodist University for middle school students in 2012 and served as the camp’s director for the next five years.

B.S., Taibah University; M.S., Hood College; D.Sc., Towson University

Bio:

Dr. Hafez graduated with D.Sc. Information Technology from Towson University. For the last four years, Dr. Hafez has been working on social media mobile platforms for the mild cognitively impaired elderly. His research interests focus on assistive technologies for the elderly with cognitive disabilities in professional settings and retirement, accessible security techniques for people with visual or cognitive declines, game-related technologies, and ubiquitous mobile healthcare, specifically wearable technology.

Dr. Hafez obtained his M.S. Information Technology and Cybersecurity Certificate from Hood College and B.S. Chemistry from Taibah University. Dr. Hafez also granted a Graduate Diploma in Commerce & Administration, majoring in International Business from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Dr. Hafez worked as an Adjunct Professor for three years at the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at Towson University.

Taught courses:

• COSC 109: Computers and Creativity
• CIS 265: Visual Basic Programming

Teaching schedule at Methodist University:

• CSC 2010 Intro to Computer Science
• CSC 3250 Programming Languages
• CSC 3500 Computer Graphics

B.S., Campbell University; M.S., Ph.D., Nova Southeastern University

Bio:

From 1983 to 2004, I served in the United States Army as a Special Forces Green Beret, with deployments in several countries to include Africa and Afghanistan. I have authored several peer-reviewed papers that are published in IEEE journals and conferences. My philosophy is: No task is too hard if you adopt an “I can do this” mentality.

A few of the classes I teach in the Computer Science department are Programming (gaming and App Development, Java, C++, C#, Visual Basic, Assembly Language), Architecture, App Development, Computer Literacy, Azure, AWS, Networking, Computer Security, Senior Project, Database, Raspberry Pi, Arduino, AWS, and other various courses.

I know from experience, that setting your standards high can be challenging but very rewarding as well. I expect every student to push themselves beyond their comfort zone and seek perfection in every assignment!

Undergraduate Teaching Areas:

Visual Basic Programming, Assembly Language, Software Engineering, Computer Networks, Unix Programming, Computer Architecture, Computer Security

Research Interests:

Computer Security, Software Engineering, Programming, GUI Development, Operating Systems, Database Management, Client-Server computing, Computer Graphics

Personal Interests:

Playing chess, camping, exercising, reading IT Literature

Bio:

Dr. Rana is currently working as an Assistant Professor with the Department of Computer Science at the Methodist University, North Carolina, USA.  His technical expertise spans broadly the areas of cyber-physical embedded systems and network security including cyber security, IoT, machine learning, communication networks, and data analytics. With over twelve years of professional experience, he has published over 100 high-quality international journal and conference papers.

B.S., Methodist University; M.S., Southern New Hampshire University

Bio:

Jason Sparrow is a graduate of Methodist University, class of 2017. He majored in Computer Information Technology with a concentration in Interactive Multimedia Application Development. During his time at Methodist, Jason served in various leadership roles including SGA President and Vice President, Resident Assistant, Leadership Fellow, and Polemarch of the Rho Zeta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

Jason completed his Masters in Information Technology with a concentration in IT Management and Cybersecurity from Southern New Hampshire University.

Jason currently serves as the IT Security Administrator for the City of Fayetteville. He is responsible for monitoring the City’s information technology security and safekeeping of information and technical resources to ensure confidentiality, integrity and availability of data and information systems throughout the City.

Certifications:

ITIL V4 Foundation, CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+

Personal Interests:

Community volunteering, male mentorship, free-lance photography, exercising

B.A., East Carolina University; M.S., Webster University