We Are IT | Meet Gary Chismar

Born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, Gary Chismar is a University of North Florida graduate with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He began his journey at Florida State University in 2004 as a consultant before becoming a full-time employee in 2007. Now serving as development manager for Enterprise Services, Gary leads the PeopleSoft resources development team, focusing on applications like HR, FI and Campus Solutions.  

Passionate about problem-solving and improving efficiency, Gary thrives on creating innovative solutions that move FSU forward, helping both students and staff. Outside of work, Gary cherishes time with his wife of 31 years and their four daughters. 

Where are you from?  

I was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida.  

Where did you attend school?  

In 1992, I graduated from FCCJ (Florida Community College Jacksonville),  where I was the vice president of the local chapter of the National Honor Society for Junior Colleges, Phi Theta Kappa.  While at FCCJ, I was also inducted into the Who’s Who Among Students In American Junior Colleges.  In 1997, I graduated from the University of North Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting. 

Why did you choose to work in technology? 

I chose to work in this field because early on, I saw how technology could improve efficiency in accounting, where I was initially on track to become a CPA partner.  At that time, there was no software for many tasks, so I started creating my own solutions. When I had a family, I wanted a career with better work-life balance than the long hours in accounting, so I moved into corporate IT.  There, I kept finding ways to automate and improve processes, which led to opportunities in programming, getting hired with IBM,  and later consulting with universities implementing PeopleSoft.  Ultimately, I stayed in this field because I enjoy problem-solving and helping organizations run more smoothly through technology. 

How long have you been at FSU? 

I started working at FSU in a consulting capacity in 2004.  I became an official employee of the university in 2007.  

What is your role at FSU?  

Development Manager, Enterprise Services. I manage the PeopleSoft resources development team. My team works on PeopleSoft applications for HR, FI and Campus Solutions.  

What do you enjoy most about your job? 

I enjoy helping people achieve their goals by finding better, more efficient ways to make things happen. I love challenging myself with complex problems and coming up with creative solutions. Working alongside my team in such a supportive environment makes it even more rewarding. FSU is a great place to work because there’s a genuine pride in supporting both students and staff. 

What is the most rewarding project you have worked on at FSU? 

There are two projects that come to mind when I think back to my most rewarding projects at FSU. The first one involved rewriting the Electronic Personal Action Form system, known as EPAF.  It’s a complex application that manages personnel changes like raises and budget updates, and handles multiple variables to ensure accuracy. 

Another major project was developing the mid-period payroll programs, which break down employee status day-by-day within a pay period.  These programs manage payroll accounting at a very detailed level, and after our rewrite, processes that used to take hours now run in just 15-20 minutes. It was exciting seeing our hard work come to life after a long development period.  

Outside of FSU, my most enjoyable project was writing an application that consolidated 17 federal identification payments for a 15 billion dollar company, eliminating multiple million dollar fines for late payments to the IRS.  The  president of the company promised shareholders that the application to handle this challenge would be delivered in 90 days, I delivered to them in 87. 

What is your favorite app?  

I enjoy playing games like MS Casual Games, Bejeweled and Words With Friends; any game that stimulates the mind. 

If you were to invent one piece of technology, what would it be?  

A software that can analyze compiled programs, automatically generate detailed documentation about their design and functionality, and keep all that documentation well-organized. Also, I would like to invent technology to automate the archiving of system data.  Archiving is very complex, in all my consulting years, archiving was the most complex topic for organizations. 

What is a fun fact about you?  

I am a huge science fiction fan and anything astrophysics-related.   

Talk a little bit about your family. 

My wife and I have been married for 31 years and have four daughters.  My family means everything to me. 

What do you do in your free time? 

I am an annual passholder at Disney and Universal Studios. My wife and I enjoy going to the parks whenever we can.