When Dr. William Cross was invited to join the Advisory Committee for the College of Computer & Information Technology department (CCIT) at St. Petersburg College (SPC), he was excited to have the opportunity to contribute his business expertise for the betterment of the committee and SPC, since he has over 45 years of experience in the Information Technology field. As a resident of St. Pete Beach, Cross has always had an interest in giving back to the community.  In his role as the Chairman of the Career Assistance Committee and Community Relations Sub-Committee at SPC, Cross along with 10 Chief Information Officers (CIO) are collaborating on a Career Pathways initiative to help students explore career opportunities.

Apart from his committee responsibilities, Cross is also an Adjunct Professor for the CCIT department at SPC. He teaches upper division courses such as ISM 4212 Database Design and Administration and ISM 4301 Global Information Systems.  Prior to teaching at SPC, Cross was an Adjunct Professor for the University of South Florida, Eckerd College and Florida Institute of Technology. He received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Economics from Kenyon College in 1964, a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the Florida Institute of Technology in 1978 and a Ph.D. in Information Systems in 1991 from Nova University.

Commenting on his experience as an Adjunct Professor over the years, Cross said, “I never taught a class where I didn’t learn something new.” He further stated that since textbooks mostly explain concepts, he strives to bring real-world experience to the classroom. Since he retired, he said that fulfilling his roles has been more manageable. In the future, he hopes to put together an apprenticeship program for programming students in the CCIT department. He wants to impart to them experience, as well as academic knowledge to equip them when they look for employment.