Leslie-Burl McLemore, ph.D.
civil rights activist and political leader
Jackson State University emeritus professor
Ms. Jackson is a thoughtful, brilliant and consummate team player. She is blessed with exceptional writing skills and is a multi-tasker. She is well-spoken and has the ability to make people feel comfortable in a group setting.
Boyd Lindsley, Ed.D.,
Senior Associate Director
Nicholson School of Communication and Media
Tommiea Jackson served as the Nicholson School of Communication and Media’s (NSCM) Coordinator of Communication, Marketing & Events for four years. Her time at UCF has been marked by a number of accomplishments. As a creative thinker, who has impressive interpersonal communication skills, Tommiea brings a spirit of camaraderie and positivity to an office environment. Tommiea proved herself always willing to assume any function(s) or project(s) that were directed her way. Whether it was comprehensive and expansive projects, such as an annual conference (NSCM hosts an annual conference), to supporting faculty or staff on marketing needs, to traveling to represent the school at a variety of conferences, to maintaining all of the school’s internal and external communication efforts, to supporting a colleague with a project, Tommiea was there.
Additionally, Tommiea did this during a period of great change at UCF, which resulted in a great deal of work for the staff of NSCM. As the new Nicholson School of Communication and Media was formed, there were also three departments formed in the new school, making for a more complex structure to accommodate a new, intercollegiate school. Even though the newly formed school resulted in twice the amount of faculty (i.e., ~100) being in one school, there were no new resources given for administrative support. Therefore, the same administrative staff that was supporting the legacy Nicholson School of Communication (NSC) - with approximately 50 faculty - was then supporting ~100 faculty. This resulted in a substantive increase of workload for Tommiea.
During this short window, Tommiea demonstrated her excellent work and leadership in shaping the new school’s, new website. When it was announced that a new school would be established, it was also decided that - in less than three months - the new school would have to develop and launch a new website at the same time. And, this was to be done with no new resources. For those not familiar with developing websites, this is a process that - if done correctly and with as robust as content the site requires for a school of our size and magnitude - should take six months, at minimum (nine-12 months would be a more appropriate time frame). However, with Tommiea’s commitment, action and leadership - while working with a team - she was able to have the new school launch a brand new - and most impressive - website on time. Of course, the website was not completely finished, but the vast majority of it was completed and ready for ‘prime time;’ she spent the rest of the fall term finalizing pieces, structure and content.
Although her duties include maintaining the school’s website, the development of a brand new site that encompasses three newly developed departments; eight undergraduate degrees; four master’s programs; a newly launched Ph.D.; more than 130 full-time faculty and staff; content to address the school moving to UCF Downtown and content to serve the school’s more than 5,000 students - just to mention a few - was above and beyond her regularly assigned duties.
Finally, Tommiea has displayed a keen interest and willingness to advance critical work around diversity, equity and inclusion, including serving as the Vice President of the Black Faculty & Staff Association. These are just some of the highlights of Tommiea’s work, experience and commitment. I’m glad to provide any additional context, should it be desired.
Anthony Dean
GEneral Manager, wjsu 88.5 FM
It is my pleasure to recommend Tommiea Jackson for a senior management position in Public Relations and Communications. I have known Tommiea for over ten years. She is an amazing professional, who brings all of the skills and expertise in Public Relations and Communications. One of the most outstanding assets Tommiea has is her ability to communicate a vision for advancement and to develop a pathway to its successful achievement.
It was indeed wonderful to work with her as the Manager of Public Relations at Jackson State University, under my supervision as the Executive Director of University Communications. Although the scope of her responsibilities was considerable, the products of her work were always of the highest quality. Her professionalism was respected at Jackson State and in the Jackson community as a whole.
Tommiea distinguished herself by consistently meeting my highest expectations. She is intelligent and possesses solid analytical and communication skills. I valued Tommiea as a co-worker. I believe she will be a tremendous asset to any company or university fortunate to hire her. She has my highest recommendation.
Michael Thomas
President, Systems Group of companies
I would like to highly recommend Tommiea for the position she is seeking. When we last worked together, I was Vice President for Business and Finance at Jackson State University and she worked in the Communications department. In times when I needed a go-to-person for events, Tommiea was always great at taking control and insuring all aspect of communications for the event or project went well. Her project management skills came in handy as well for photographing events, such as when we hosted Magic Johnson, Spike Lee and Rudy Ruettiger on campus. Tommiea is professional, capable and committed to getting things done. I again high recommend her.
Jean Gordon cook
Director of public relations, Mississippi department of education
I had the good fortune to work with Tommiea twice -- first at The News-Star and later at Jackson State University. Tommiea is a creative thinker whose skills in writing, photography and design make her a highly effective campaign leader. She brings passion, curiosity and dedication to all of her projects, and shares her talents through teaching and mentoring.