ISC service(s) or programs/projects: Internal consulting on business process optimization
Length of time in ISC: Since October 2023
Previous work experience: Applied Card Systems (bank), IT and AV specialist; Temple University Fox School of Business (executive MBA program)
Tell us about a challenge at Penn that made you proud to be part of ISC.
In January 2024, I was involved in the rollout of the electronic records system EPIC for Student Health Services. They were converting from legacy systems to join Penn Medicine’s EPIC implementation called PennChart. This big rollout was an all-hands-on-deck thing. I was still new and it was intense. There were long hours and we were working with nurses who had patients to see, so they could not always focus on learning the system. I always try to put myself in the position of the patient; if I couldn’t get the care I needed it would not be a good situation. So helping someone in health care was really important. Even though it was a rougher rollout than anticipated, everyone in ISC stayed calm. They were willing to put in the extra hours and step up when needed. That showed me that the people I work with are willing to give a little more than others, and it inspired me to put my all into this project to make sure we could get these medical professionals working. And we did iron out all the issues. After a week or so it was running smoothly. We banded together and put in a lot of hard work, and it paid off in a better system for everybody.
What’s an interesting technical or business problem you’ve faced with ISC?
Penn’s Environmental Health and Radiation Safety division staff are such heavy users of the tech we provide that it’s sometimes a little difficult to support. We had one user syncing three different Microsoft SharePoint instances on his computer—a terabye of data—and his computer started running so slowly he often couldn’t access the data. I tried some basic optimizing procedures, which didn’t help much, so we called in our third-tier support specialist. There was so much critical data there, being used by so many people, that we didn’t want to risk doing anything that might compromise it. Getting into the nitty gritty of things like syncing with those Microsoft products can get messy pretty quickly, and there’s very little support for them. Eventually we found a way to un-sync everything, and then re-sync it all in a better-curated way. This led us to create some better documentation on how to advise these heavy users who push the limits of what we have in place. It was a good challenge and definitely not the usual thing you encounter.
What do you like best about working with clients or colleagues across Penn?
Everyone who works for Penn! Most of the people I encounter have some kind of interesting work or have taken an interesting life path to get to Penn. Because Penn doesn’t really hire people who just show up. And most people have an interesting back story, and they’ve been easy to talk to. Working with them, whether clients or coworkers, has not been a cold interaction. Everyone has been very warm.
What ways do you find to make and/or maintain connections with colleagues in our hybrid work environment?
It is definitely difficult to make those real personal connections in a hybrid work model. When I’m on campus, I like to go over to someone’s desk and say, hey, if you’re not busy, how’s it going? And I do have good relationships, especially with coworkers who started at the same time I did. We have a camaraderie. Online, it’s definitely a lot of group chats. For instance, we had ITIL training last week and there was chat that functioned like a study group (mutual rants and kudos). When you have a shared goal, you can joke around but also assist each other, and it’s great way to have connections in the hybrid environment. And we have a weekly in-person staff meeting. Even when I’m assigned to work in another organization, my supervisor made a point to tell the client that I had to come back for the weekly staff meeting. So we don’t charge the client for that hour!
What do you appreciate most about the time you spend on campus?
Working on a campus is engaging, even if you’re not going someplace specific but just walking around, seeing things going on around you. It feels like a big interconnected system, or an organism. It’s not like working in the bank where everyone’s in their cube with a rigid workflow and when you walk down the hallway there’s no one else in it. So being here where you see students and faculty, you’re reminded that you’re in a university where all these other things are happening. It feels kind of cozy to have your own place in this larger picture.
What are you passionate about in your free time?
Collecting VHS tapes, physical media, and working with analog video. I have a Hi8 camcorder that I’ll use to record family events, parties, and other things—like the guy who ate the rotisserie chicken on the pier, a silly Philly thing. I shot that and gave the footage to a news organization that aired it. I have an old newsroom TV monitor with special inputs that allow a clearer video signal. I use it for older video games and my VHS tapes because the image is better. Beyond that, I’ve been building computers since I was in middle school. My basement is littered with wires, laptops, and computer parts. I also like vinyl records and analog audio, but getting that all set up properly is still on my to-do list.