2023 CFTA Board of Directors Nominations  

An annual election will take place in July to fill the three (3) open CFTA Director positions for the 2023 - 2026 term.  

Electronic voting is open July 10th - July 28th. All active campus members are asked to cast their vote for a fair election. 

CFTA Directors are elected members that serve the governing body of the association. There are six (6) total Director seats in the association and each serves a 3-year term with alternating start years, for purposes of staggering Board turnover.  An election occurs annually by electronic vote prior to the CFTA Annual Conference and All Member Meeting.  CFTA Officers are chosen in such a manner as determined by the Board of Directors.

Meet Your Candidates for the 2023 - 2026 Term 

Nick Burns, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
GIS Specialist, FIS

Nick Burns, I’m a GIS specialist within the Facility Information Systems (FIS) team under the Office of Campus Planning at MIT in Cambridge MA. I’ve been at MIT for 2 years now but have a long history working with GIS in a professional setting. Last year, I attended my first CFTA conference in Providence RI and was quickly drawn to the great group of people that make up the CFTA community. After spending a couple days meeting and talking with other members and attendees, I realized how much this conference can benefit me in my current position and decided that getting more involved would benefit me both personally as well as professionally. Immediately following last year’s conference, I signed up to be a part of the GIS Maturity Model Task Force and have enjoyed attending as many watercooler conversations as I can throughout the year. I’ve enjoyed working with this group and look forward to being a part of this community in the years to come.

Deborah Massaro, Austin Community College 
GIS / Digital Information Manager, FIS 

Deborah received a Bachelors of Science in Architecture at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, MA and then spent some time at a residential architecture firm measuring and drafting as built conditions.  She started at MIT in 2015 as the CAD/Signage Assistant where she improved signage standards by learning braille to check for accuracy, and worked on the space management side to update CAD plans for the ICR in the FIS department.  She then moved to Austin, TX and joined Austin Community College’s Facilities and Construction department as the CAD Coordinator.  She started there working on signage, space management and document management as the sole member of what now is the FIS team.  She has grown this team to include full time and intern positions for GIS, BIM and archiving, and is now the GIS/Digital Information Manager.  Deborah is in charge of maintaining all space data, managing access to Facilities data, and growing the college's GIS implementation.  The team also has been working with drones, 360 imaging, and wayfinding app development.  She is an FAA-certified UAS remote pilot.

Deborah is passionate about CFTA as being a member has encouraged her to expand the college's FIS footprint after seeing the great work from other schools. The promotion of two CFTA Directors into CFTA Officer roles gave Deborah the chance to step in and fill a CFTA Director vacancy for the 2022 - 2023 term and has already proven to be a welcome asset on the CFTA Board. Deborah is the 2022 CFTA Ellington Award Winner for her presentation at the 2022 CFTA Annual Conference. Outside of work, Deborah continues to use her graphic skills while volunteering for the local animal shelter by creating newsletters and revamping their website.

Jennifer McCarthy, University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV)
Executive Director of Space Management 

Jennifer L. McCarthy, D.P.P. has 25-years experience in higher education.  Born and raised in Massachusetts, Jennifer relocated to Las Vegas in 2001 for a position with the Registrar’s Office at  the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) where she scheduled classes in the very limited space inventory before transitioning to the Office of Space Management. During her 20 year tenure with Space Management she implemented and now manages the University’s space management system (Archibus).  She has developed campus-wide space standards, policies and procedures, and acts as the liaison between departments and Planning & Construction for renovation and new construction projects.  She recently completed the Doctor of Public Policy program and is the Executive Director of Space Management at UNLV.

Jeremy Smith, Carnegie Mellon University 
Director, Enterprise Space Information Management 
Director of IT, Facilities Management & Campus Services 

Jeremy has been with Carnegie Mellon University since 1997.  He spent most of those years supporting all aspects of Facilities Management IT, including the Computerized Maintenance Management System, Inventory management, Utility/Energy Management and Accounting system,  Building Automation Systems, and Space Management systems.  In 2022, Jeremy took on the role of Director of the newly formed Enterprise Space Information Management (ESIM) team leading the effort to bring an enterprise approach to managing data related to spaces on campus.  In this role, he is building a team with the goal of modernizing our toolsets and integrating our approaches to gathering, storing and sharing this data to support analysis, decision-making, and planning as well as to build a common communication plan to improve awareness of space-related data across all CMU campuses.  Jeremy graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and earned his Master's Degree from The Heinz College of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University.  For the last 20-plus years, Jeremy has also served as an adjunct professor at the university teaching database-related courses in the Heinz College Master's programs.  Jeremy joined CFTA last year and was immediately excited about the community of folks with similar focus and goals at their institutions.  He is looking forward to getting more involved in the CFTA.

Willingness to Serve

Active members interested in serving as a Director should review the director qualifications below and are encouraged to submit a Willingness to Serve. Others interested in nominating someone they believe will be successful in this role may submit a Board of Directors Nomination.

Director Qualifications

• Be a voting* member of the Association in good standing.
• Have demonstrated a personal dedication to the work and goals of the Association through active participation in past and current Association activities.
• Maintain active membership in the Association and be able to commit to active participation, attend member conferences, and attend Board meetings during that person’s service on the Board of Directors.
• Have expressed a willingness to serve as a member of the Board of Directors.

*Campus members are voting members; Business Partners are non-voting members  

Director Responsibilities

Important Dates