Q: You bring experience and knowledge from the position you held at U-M Dearborn. What excited you about applying for the Desktop Support Manager role within LSA Technology Services?
A: The position offered a ‘relationship management’ piece that appealed to my strong interest in interacting with people. I enjoy adding to the customer experience and building relationships. This position is also allowing me to enter into the research realm of support. My experience at the Dearborn campus of bringing together specialists from different areas has also been helping me as we work towards bringing together all of our desktop support areas into a more cohesive team. I’m thrilled to be managing our East Hall region while working closely with Stephen McClatchey (BSB Desktop Support Manager), Karen Wilson (CSG Desktop Support Supervisor), Laura Green (Randall Desktop Support Supervisor), and Kyle Roberts (Chem Desktop Support Supervisor).
Q: What is your favorite thing about working at LSA Technology Services as a Desktop Support Manager?
A: Getting to know the people and seeing their passion and commitment to their work. They really love what they do! Our staff members always keep customers front of mind. I’ve also been amazed by the breadth of research we support. Mostly I’ve been engaged in the natural and social science areas. It really makes you appreciate the phrase ‘leaders and best’!
Also, for a period of time, my office was located in the new Biological Sciences Building. Seeing the new exhibits going up was pretty exciting since it was one of my favorite places to visit as a child, then with my kids, and now with my grandkids. We always called it ‘The Dinosaur Museum’ so being involved with the new space in any way was pretty amazing.
Q: Three new desktop support supervisors have been hired and you and Stephen McClatchey are working together to bring our desktop support areas together as one team. What benefits can faculty, staff, and students expect from doing this?
A: Our desktop support teams have historically worked very independently from each other so we are looking at how we can work better cross functionally, especially in the high level research support area. The focus is on building a stronger team and how we can work better together to bring more expertise to the areas where it is needed. We want our staff to not only be able to get their work done, but also allow them enough flexibility to be able to build relationships with the units they support, and engage with each other to foster innovation and creativity as we support the high-level needs of the college.
Q: Your team is working on the Windows 7 to Windows 10 migration project. Tell us about what that process means for your team and what is one ‘lesson learned’ you’ve had so far.
A: We are learning that there are many different ways to come to the same result. We have documentation, but it’s different for each regional team so we are looking into standardizing our ground level support in the future so we can leverage strengths across all the teams. This will help us be able to better support each other for future projects as well. We are more than 50% complete with this project—If you haven’t already updated your computer to Windows 10, contact our amazing staff to schedule your update!
Q: If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would you want to meet?
A: My mother always tells me stories about my great grandfather. He had a strong influence on her in science, gardening, and her love of learning. I was never able to meet him, but I would’ve liked to experience and understand his personality and knowledge.
Q: What do you like to do outside of the office?
A: I love being outside and in nature. Currently, I live on an acre of land that is full of trees, and I’ve started planting a lot of flowers. I’m also been looking into developing a native flower garden, which is a garden with plants that are adapted to the local climate and soil and can serve as food for insects, birds, and other animals. Along with this, I’ve been researching beekeeping as something I’d like to start to help with pollination.
Spending time with my family also has importance in my life. I have two kids, three grandchildren, brothers, step-dad, and mother who lives close by that I enjoy connecting with on a deep level.
I’m also part of a “Flight Club”. My friends and I have planks of wood from the Packard Plant that we’ve turned into flight boards that you’d use for drinks—wine, beer, whatever you’d like! The idea is to bring our boards to each other’s houses—each person gets a turn hosting—and just have a good time together, tasting different types of drinks.
Q: What was the last book you read?
A: My commute to work is long enough to where I am able to listen to audio books. One I really enjoyed was The Time Traveler’s Wife. I saw the movie first, years ago, but I enjoyed the book a lot more because of the amount of extra detail that wasn’t captured in the movie. The book I’m into right now is River of Consciousness by Oliver Sacks, which is a series of his essays that cover all of his favorite topics. The first one dealt with Darwin and his detailed research on plants, Orchids being one his of favorites. The next topic goes over how chemicals create different reactions in the brain, and goes into certain brain disorders. I’m looking forward to learning more about that.
Q: How do you keep up with new technologies and trends?
A: I like to read articles and listen to podcasts, especially if they are about security and processes. It helps me constantly think about different process improvements.
Q: Do you have any pets?
A: I grew up on a farm in the Irish Hills so I’ve had everything from cats and dogs to horses, pigs, sheep, and chickens previously, but right now I have a 20 year old cat named Saffron. I would love to have a dog, or maybe some chickens or a goat. I do think that would be a great experience connecting with nature and animals again in that way!
