New to the U

Brandt Shields hired as new director of external relations      

Brandt Shields was named director of external relations in August 2015. He had been the entertainment and events supervisor at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri.

Shields earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre and a Master of Business Administration degree from Missouri State University.

As director of external relations, Shields will serve on the president’s cabinet and will be responsible for building and sustaining strong relationships with local, state and federal decision-makers to advance the university’s strategic goals. Shields replaced Ann Pearce, who retired as special assistant to the president.

Nichols directs public relations and marketing  

Jomel Nichols was named director of public relations and marketing and began her duties in August.

Nichols was previously an account manager at SJC Marketing in St. Joseph. There, she was responsible for strategic marketing planning and execution for all areas of marketing, including brand strategy, online presence, content, engagement marketing and social media, as well as more traditional marketing channels. Prior to that, she was marketing manager at Nichols Actuarial Consulting in Savannah, Missouri; account manager at Trozzolo Creative in Kansas City, Missouri; and marketing manager at Commerce Bancshares, also in Kansas City.

New speech and debate coach  

Jason Edgar was named director of speech and debate, beginning in fall 2015. Also an instructor in the Department of Communication and Journalism, he holds the first full-time position in the debate program since it was re-started in 2013.

Edgar had been speech instructor and director of forensics at Crowder College in Neosho, Missouri since 2009, establishing the first debate program in the college’s history and serving as president of the Missouri Association of Forensics Activities in 2014-15.

Edgar has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Missouri Southern State University and a Master of Arts in Communication from the University of Arkansas.