Katie Wood (Co-Coordinator): Katie Wood attended Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri where she majored in English and minored in Spanish. As an undergrad, she had the opportunity to travel to various countries including El Salvador, Bosnia, and Spain to pursue her studies. While in Bosnia, Katie decided to make her love affair with photography a more committed relationship. She came to the University of Missouri in 2009 to begin her graduate studies in photojournalism. This is Katie's second year working with CPOY.

Kristan Lieb (Co-Coordinator): A native of St. Louis, MO and a recent photography graduate of Columbia College Chicago, Kristan Lieb is in her first semester of graduate school at the University of Missouri. She has photographed scores of live performances, a live birth and a March on Washington. After realizing that her photographic interests leaned toward the journalistic, she decided to pursue her passion more seriously by working towards a masters in photojournalism at Missouri.

Rita Reed (Director): Rita Reed has served as Director of the College Photographer of the Year competition for the past nine years. She is an Associate Professor in the photojournalism sequence of the Missouri School of Journalism. Prior to joining the University of Missouri faculty, Reed worked as a photojournalist for the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. She was the 1993 recipient of the NPPA/Nikon Documentary Sabbatical Grant.

Amy Schomaker (Administrative Assistant): In her role as Administrative Assistant for the Photojournalism Faculty, Amy Schomaker helps coordinate CPOY and Missouri Photo Workshop. Formerly a public school art teacher, Amy holds a Bachelor's of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Missouri. She remains active as an artist, working primarily in fiber arts and is a member of the Columbia Weaver’s and Spinners Guild's Fiber Study Group.

Brett Slaughter (Web Producer): Brett Slaughter graduated from the Missouri School of Journalism's Photojournalism sequence in May 2005. He is a self-taught web programmer, learning Internet technologies and programming during his time at the University of Missouri. Since graduating, he has recognized that his talents as a nerd outweighed his talents as a photojournalist, and as a result has given up photojournalism in favor of pursuing a career in Information Technology, Systems Administration, and Web Development and Programming. He continues to devote a portion of his time to the continuing mission of the College Photographer of the Year program and is always seeking ways to use the web to enhance the contest experience for students worldwide.

Ryan Gibbons (Asst. Web Producer): Ryan Gibbons is a graduate of the photojournalism program at the University of Missouri. For the past four years Ryan has helped to improve the user experience of the cpoy.org website. His professional interests range from user interface design to environmental and wildlife photography. Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, Ryan has worked at NPR in Washington, DC and he currently divides his time working as a photo editor and web designer in Southeast Asia and the United States. In his spare time, Ryan is an avid outdoorsman and scuba diver.

Esten Hurtle (Screencast Producer): Esten Hurtle is a senior in the photojournalism program at the University of Missouri. This is his second year working with the College Photographer of the Year Program. He has previously served as the Online Content Editor for The Maneater, Mizzou's campus paper, and has recently returned from an internship with the product reviews team at PCMag.com in New York. When he's not in class or on assignment for the Missourian, Esten is usually working on a computer or playing guitar.