Senior Leadership
Dr. Brett Kemker
Interim Regional Chancellor, USF Sarasota-Manatee campus
Dr. Kemker was appointed interim regional chancellor of the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus in January 2025, having served as Regional Vice Chancellor since 2018. He maintains his role as Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Student Success. Under his leadership, community partnerships will flourish and academic programming will be bolstered as the growing campus continues to serve the needs of students.
Mr. Eddie Beauchamp
Regional Vice Chancellor for Business and Financial Affairs
Eddie Beauchamp serves as regional vice chancellor for business and finance. Beauchamp previously worked at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) in Lawrenceville about 30 miles northeast of Atlanta, where he served as vice president of operations.
During his time at GGC, Beauchamp played a pivotal role in the campus’ rapid expansion, helping it increase from 118 students in 2006 when the college opened to more than 12,000 students today. GGC is a four-year college with 15 majors and 42 concentrations.
Beauchamp holds a master’s degree in accounting from Kennesaw State University and a bachelor’s degree in accounting, with a focus on computer science and computer information systems, from David Lipscomb University.
Ms. Tressa Presley McLeod
Director of Communications and Marketing
Tressa Presley McLeod serves as director of communications and marketing. She leads
strategic communications and marketing for the university, including executive communications,
brand and reputation management, media relations, advertising campaigns, event promotion
and campus initiatives and goals.
She was most recently associate director in the same office. Prior to that, she spent
nearly a decade at the University of Mississippi, where, as graphic web designer and
special projects manager, she implemented a project management system, developed comprehensive
email and digital communications policies and procedures for the university, spearheaded
the development and updating of the university's coronavirus website and managed digital
campaigns for campus messaging, recruitment and community engagement. She has additional
leadership experience at a Fortune 500 company as well as at small and medium independent
businesses.
She has expertise in project management, communications, digital and web strategy,
event planning, corporate branding, print production, website management, SEO, social
media, content marketing and strategic planning.
She holds a master of business administration from the University of Mississippi (Ole
Miss) as well as a bachelor of science in horticulture and business from Mississippi
State University and a bachelor of fine arts in graphic design from the University
of South Alabama. While at the University of Mississippi, she was selected to represent
the University at the SEC MBA Case Competition (2021) in Lexington, Ky., where her
team received honorable mention. She was also the elected MBA representative on the
University of Mississippi graduate student council, where she served as MBA senator
and president pro tempore of the senate.
Ms. Jan Melnik
Assistant Program Director
Jan Melnik combines a background in Fortune 100 leadership/corporate communications and executive coaching/career management with higher education experience. She has served as a course designer and instructor at Bay Path University for 15 years; she began her USF career as an adjunct and segued to Visiting Instructor of English before her promotion to Assistant Program Director, Office of Academic Affairs, managing strategic academic projects.
Melnik has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Career Thought Leaders since the organization’s founding in 2010. She was an elected Commissioner of the Durham Planning & Zoning Commission in her native Connecticut for 29 years. She founded the Middlesex County Mothers-of-Multiples club, serving as President for a decade.
She has been featured in such media outlets as USA Today, Entrepreneur, LA Times, Investor’s Business Daily, Fox, and NBC as a top authority in executive career management. As principal of Absolute Advantage for 25+ years, Melnik has created powerful white papers, annual reports, and marketing collateral for finance, healthcare, and law enforcement agencies as well as universities nationwide.
The author of 11 books (Emerald Publishing, JIST, Globe Pequot, Amazon), including Modernize Your Executive Job Search and Resume & LinkedIn Strategies for New College Graduates, Melnik’s first novel, Telling Tales: On Merlin’s Island, was a top-100 Amazon winner selected from 10,000+ submissions.
Melnik is a summa cum laude graduate of both Wesleyan University (Master of Arts, Liberal Studies, humanities concentration) and the University of Maryland (B.S., Management, marketing concentration). She is a Master Resume Writer, Credentialed Career Manager, and Certified Professional Resume Writer and frequent keynote speaker at industry conferences.
Ms. Marrie Neumer
Associate Vice President of Advancement
Marrie Neumer has spent her entire professional career working in higher education, first as a head swimming and diving coach for more than 20 years, then as a director of development, assistant dean and major gifts officer at Cornell University for 17 years where she led many successful initiatives, including fundraising for scholarships, hiring faculty and enhancing the student experience. Neumer also spearheaded fundraising for the new wing at Cornell’s I.M. Pei-designed art museum and was instrumental in completing the campaign to build Bill & Melinda Gates Hall, which houses computing and information science at Cornell.
A four-time NCAA Division III All-American swimmer and Certified Fundraising Executive, Neumer grew up in Rochester, New York, and received a bachelor’s degree at the College of Wooster and a master’s degree in exercise physiology at Springfield College, where, along with the University of Rochester, the University at Buffalo and Cornell University, she spent the next two decades coaching.
Mr. Casey Welch
Assistant Vice President for External Affairs and Government Relations
Casey Welch serves as the assistant vice president for external affairs and government relations at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus. As a member of the University of South Florida Office of Government Relations, he serves as the official liaison between the Sarasota-Manatee campus and government entities. Under External Affairs he oversees community engagement and corporate partnership activities for the campus.
Welch is also is the executive director of the Institute for Public Policy and Leadership at USF. The Institute for Public Policy and Leadership (IPPL) is the designated Office of Public Policy Events at the University of South Florida.
As part of his leadership of IPPL, he serves on the Government Issues Council of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, the Career Edge Regional Workforce Council, the Government Affairs Committee of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance, the Public Policy Committee of the Venice Area Chamber of Commerce and as Chair of the Legislative Committee for the Manatee Chamber of Commerce.
Before joining USF in 2011, Welch served as senior staffer for a Member of Congress who represented portions of central Florida and the greater Tampa Bay area. Prior to his position in Washington, D.C., Welch worked in the Florida House of Representatives and the Executive Office of the Governor of Florida. He also represented two of Florida’s largest agricultural trade associations at the U.S. Congress and various federal agencies.
Welch is a graduate of Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and history. He is a Sarasota native, former president of the Florida 4-H Foundation and a member of the Mote Marine Laboratory Advisory Council.
Ms. Lisa Barker
Special Assistant to the Interim Regional Chancellor
As the Special Assistant to the Regional Chancellor of the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, Lisa Barker has been an integral part of the executive leadership team on the campus since 2018. She brings exceptional organizational skills to her role, supporting not only the Regional Chancellor, but members of the senior leadership team. Additionally, Barker is the campus liaison for the USFSM Campus Board, coordinating quarterly meetings on campus, arranging meeting space, developing comprehensive agendas, ensuring professional PowerPoint and streamed program deliveries are seamlessly presented throughout the meetings, and capturing the proceedings in professional minutes.
In addition to managing the Regional Chancellor’s complex calendar, Barker manages strong relationships with not only faculty, staff, and administrators on the Sarasota-Manatee campus, but executive leadership of the university in Tampa and St. Pete, as well as community and corporate leaders throughout the region.
Prior to joining USF, Barker managed office operations for the World Rowing Championships in Sarasota. This entailed everything from creating the office, orchestrating office processes, onboarding new staff, and handling HR functions to preparing internal and external communications and coordinating budgets, meetings, and travel arrangements.
Barker’s earlier career included executive assistant roles to the C-suite leadership of Sony Music International, Sirius XM, and IMG Worldwide. Her extensive administrative background is complemented by a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Arts from St. John’s University in Jamaica, NY. An avid sports and music fan, she has volunteered or worked part time at the World Police & Fire Games, US Open, Leary Firefighters Foundation, and Central Park Summerstage.