ISC service(s) or programs/projects: Data Warehouse support
Length of time in ISC: Since March 2024
Previous work experience: The Reinvestment Fund, policy department
Tell us about a challenge at Penn that made you proud to be part of ISC.
I became involved in the ongoing migration of Penn’s Data Warehouse to Snowflake from Oracle almost immediately when I joined ISC. Basically every week for eight months I’ve been checking “universes” that span multiple data collections in the Warehouse. Making sure everything is converted properly and is compatible with the new platform before it goes live to end users—and if not, identifying things like syntax issues, missing objects, etc. and proactively fixing them. This project has been a really big lift and precedes my tenure here by a few years. It's required the help of folks all over ISC, not just the Data Warehouse team. As someone new to Penn and ISC, I’m really proud to be surrounded by so many supportive colleagues in an organization that’s leveraging modern technology to enhance our security and analytic capabilities for the future.
What’s an interesting technical or business problem you’ve faced with ISC?
I’ve been involved in the creation of a new data collection in the Data Warehouse, something that doesn’t happen often at all. So I’m getting to experience the full life cycle of creating a data collection, from meeting with clients to understand what they want it to provide them, to developing an initial data model, building out those tables, and then testing them to make sure the structure is intuitive for the end users who consume the data. This is a technical problem that has challenged me to change my perspective a little, so that the ultimate reporting stays top of mind in these very early decision-making processes.
What do you like best about working with clients or colleagues across Penn?
I think what I like best is empowering clients to work with the data. Helping ensure that any person in any role across all the schools and centers at Penn are capable of working with its data. The concept of data reporting can be very intimidating, especially to nontechnical audiences. I was once in that same seat too. I actually went to school for criminal justice. So I remember how invaluable good documentation and training were to me when I was first starting out in data. I’m very thankful to my former colleagues for being so patient with me and walking me through things and pointing me to resources. So now that I’m in this position, I want to be the person who provides those tools and supports our clients, so they can then use what they learn to support their school or center at Penn.
What ways do you find to make and/or maintain connections with colleagues in our hybrid work environment?
When I joined ISC, I came into an already hybrid work environment. So I was invited to lots of virtual coffee chats, and I would also send out some if I wanted get to know someone better on another team. Then since I’m on campus consistently on certain days of the week, I was able to find others who had a similar schedule and start grabbing lunch on campus. Or schedule a happy hour, especially around meetings when more people will be on campus.
What do you appreciate most about the time you spend on campus?
The liveliness on campus! It’s refreshing not to be at your desk in your house without interacting with anyone all day. And to go to a campus that has so many students and faculty and staff in motion all the time. It sounds odd, but that’s what I appreciate: the noise. You know, there’s a civilization out there! I also like walking around campus. I take advantage of the lunch special at a Thai place. I’ve meandered into amazing places like the rare books collections at the Library and the ENIAC display at the Engineering School. There’s just a bunch of cool stuff on campus you wouldn’t know about unless you explore.
What are you passionate about in your free time?
I love going on hikes. I’m trying to make it a mission to go to as many national parks as I can. I’m also passionate about food access. I volunteer with a local group that meets on Saturdays to cook meals and distribute them to the South Philly community fridges.