{"id":7433,"date":"2025-07-08T15:24:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T15:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/?p=7433"},"modified":"2026-02-19T19:46:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T19:46:44","slug":"through-purdues-online-master-of-science-in-computer-and-information-technology-executive-it-director-john-goodfellow-turns-a-long-held-dream-into-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/through-purdues-online-master-of-science-in-computer-and-information-technology-executive-it-director-john-goodfellow-turns-a-long-held-dream-into-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Through Purdue\u2019s online Master of Science in Computer and Information Technology, Executive IT Director John Goodfellow turns a long-held dream into reality"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

John Goodfellow dreamed of going to Purdue for nearly 40 years before he became a student in the university\u2019s online Master of Science in Computer and Information Technology<\/a> program. He first became interested in Purdue in the 1980s, when he was considering where to get his undergraduate degree. When his grades fell short of Purdue\u2019s admission standards, he promised himself he wouldn\u2019t give up \u2014 no matter where life took him.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between then and now, Goodfellow earned his associate\u2019s and bachelor\u2019s at another institution and amassed more than 30 years of experience working in the IT industry. Over the course of his career, he developed a passion for learning and teaching. That passion inspired him to keep the dream of getting a Purdue degree alive, especially since he wanted to teach project management at the collegiate level one day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWanting to start teaching is what inspired me to consider a master\u2019s,\u201d Goodfellow said. \u201cBut if I was going to go to grad school, I wanted to go to the best school and learn from the best people, and I knew that Purdue offered that.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After seeing that Purdue had an online master\u2019s degree in computer and information technology with a concentration in project management, Goodfellow decided to take a shot at making his long-held dream come true. When he was accepted into the program, he felt ecstatic, but he also knew there was a lot of hard work ahead of him. He was enrolling as a full-time student while also working full time as the director of IT at St. Petersburg College. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n

Learn more about the Master of Science in Computer and Information Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n Learn More<\/a>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless, Goodfellow was excited to start the program and put what he was learning into practice. He wanted to create a project management standard at his college to help his team manage more complex IT projects. He had been working in the project management field for quite some time, but the science of project management had changed a lot since he first got his certification. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI started learning about project management 20 years ago, and I became an expert at the techniques that were popular back then, like waterfall,<\/a> but now there are new techniques like agile<\/a> that practitioners need to be proficient in,\u201d Goodfellow said. \u201cI wanted this program to update and challenge my project management knowledge.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Purdue\u2019s program gave Goodfellow the challenge he was looking for and much more. He loved getting to take classes and collaborate with other experienced project management and IT professionals. They took their studies seriously, and they helped expose Goodfellow to new perspectives and ideas. The program\u2019s professors were also exceptional. They were all accomplished practitioners and scholars, and they pushed their students to hone both their technical and interpersonal skills \u2014 a balance Goodfellow said made the program stand out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSomething that drew me to Purdue\u2019s program initially was that it was applied, and it emphasized both technical proficiency and developing soft skills like communication, emotional intelligence, and relationship-building,\u201d Goodfellow said. \u201cThose skills are so critical in project management \u2014 you don\u2019t want to sacrifice your interpersonal skills for technical achievement. If you can\u2019t convince others that your ideas have merit, you\u2019re going to be lost.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his courses, Goodfellow had the chance to bring concepts like this to life through hands-on projects. In Advanced Topics in Project Management<\/a>, Goodfellow was challenged to read a book every week, and he learned that breaking large projects down into smaller parts helps increase efficiency and leads to more productive relationships. In Organizational Change Managment<\/a>, Goodfellow got to complete an assignment on project management in higher education that was directly applicable to his job. He also got to mentor undergraduate students taking their project management capstones. This experience made him feel confident that a future career in teaching was attainable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though he was studying hundreds of miles away from campus, Goodfellow forged a strong connection to Purdue by taking advantage of all the opportunities the program offered for face-to-face communication. He went to his professors\u2019 virtual office hours, built lasting relationships with faculty and attended all the live lectures he could. He became particularly close to professors Jeffrey Brewer and Kevin Dittman, who acted as important mentors, keeping Goodfellow motivated through the hardest parts of the program.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe engagement was amazing, even as an online student,\u201d Goodfellow said. \u201cAll the faculty and support staff are so committed to your success.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goodfellow was also able to customize his degree and take on new challenges via the program\u2019s stackable graduate certificates. He earned his Managing Information Technology Projects Graduate Certificate<\/a> on the way to getting his master\u2019s, an experience that gave him even more project management expertise specific to his workplace. These extra credentials made him even more confident that he could lead his organization to take on bigger projects more successfully.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverything I studied was so relevant to what I was doing at work,\u201d Goodfellow said. \u201cI was able to take what I learned and apply it immediately. The experience is worth every cent, and I mean that.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After countless hours spent studying and completing projects, Goodfellow graduated with his master\u2019s in spring 2025 and achieved a 4.0 GPA. He felt excited to make it to the finish line and finally get his weekends back, but he also described the experience of finishing as bittersweet. Being a Purdue student was, for him, a dream come true. As he plans for what\u2019s next, he hopes his journey will take him back to Purdue eventually, perhaps as an instructor or coach. In the future, he would love to help other Boilermakers turn their dreams into reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt took me 53 years to make it to Purdue, and I finally did it,\u201d Goodfellow said. \u201cI\u2019ll never forget that. Your next giant leap really can come from anywhere.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more about Purdue University\u2019s Master of Science in Computer and Information Technology, visit the program\u2019s webpage.<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Goodfellow dreamed of going to Purdue for nearly 40 years before he became a student in the university\u2019s online Master of Science in Computer and Information Technology program. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":7434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[],"area-of-study":[38],"person":[73,74],"class_list":["post-7433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-success","area-of-study-data-information","person-alumni","person-students"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_0415-1.jpg",1800,1200,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_0415-1.jpg",1800,1200,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_0415-1.jpg",1800,1200,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_0415-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_0415-1-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_0415-1-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_0415-1-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_0415-1.jpg",1800,1200,false],"rt_custom":["https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_0415-1.jpg",1800,1200,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"RM Barton","author_link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/author\/barton53\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Student Success<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"John Goodfellow dreamed of going to Purdue for nearly 40 years before he became a student in the university\u2019s online Master of Science in Computer and Information Technology program.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7433"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9771,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7433\/revisions\/9771"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7433"},{"taxonomy":"area-of-study","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/area-of-study?post=7433"},{"taxonomy":"person","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person?post=7433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}