What is your role in the Service Center of Excellence?
I am the logistics and security lead for F&A Information Technology. That means I focus my attention on the praxis of F&A IT while making things more secure on our desktop systems. As I moved into my Carrboro office about a week before the rest of the SCE staff so that IT could assure our delivery of services on the first day in our new location, people recognized me as the “face of IT” here. I served as the interim lead for the IT support staff in the building until Marcus Wooton was hired to supervise the business unit support team of F&A IT.
What did you do before you came to the SCE?
I was originally hired for web programming and customization work, and have been with F&A IT for about eight years. My responsibilities have evolved into managing and supporting other tools and work processes across F&A. Before coming to the SCE, I worked in a variety of professions, including: a pre-press operator, public school teacher in both rural and inner-city Dallas-Fort Worth schools, short-course instructor at Duke, instructor at the Living Arts College, programming department chair for the Computer Learning Center; space management software consultant and trainer for one of the largest CAFM (integrated asset and facilities management) firms in the world, as well as a facilities database manager here at UNC.
What is your favorite part of working at SCE?
The best part of my job is the never-ending variety of new challenges and tools that cross my desk. The breadth of technologies that F&A IT supports and the challenges related to them makes the work fun and rewarding. A typical day may start with my consulting on the newest malware exploit, then helping a user organize their files, then reconciling telephone bills or ordering software. Of course, there’s always asking a customer if they have “turned it off, and back on again.”
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I spend a lot of my free time with my wife and dog. Together we enjoy travel, attending shows at the Durham Performing Arts Center, and games at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. I have added a number of home automation technologies to my home and spend time programming the system to make the home more comfortable and secure, while saving energy.
What is something people probably wouldn’t know about you, or another fun item you’d like to share?
I studied Esperanto in college to fulfill my foreign language requirement and use it for commands for my dog.