ISC service(s) or programs/projects: Supporting PennO365, Active Directory support, communications team within Client Care, backup services
Length of time in ISC: Joined ISC and Penn in 2019
Previous work experience: First temp job out of college was in education at Morris Arboretum. Desktop support for DeVry, then desktop support, project management, and vendor management for Cobham
Tell us about a challenge at Penn that made you proud to be part of ISC.
I’m proud of contributing to Client Care’s communications team, particularly things that foster inclusivity. Putting pronouns in all our email signatures, adding pronunciations for names—things that hopefully make people feel included and accepted in the wider community.
What’s an interesting technical or business problem you’ve faced with ISC?
When I first started in Client Care, I worked primarily in the Penn O365 group. We identified around 80 pages of related documentation scattered all across our websites. One of my tasks, which took a very long time and a lot of collaboration with other people in Client Care and the O365 group, was to create a knowledge base from those scattered documents. This was a big task, since we had so many documents already and no existing framework to put them in. So we built the skeleton from the ground up and then populated it. Now any time the Penn O365 service changes, I update or add new pages to the knowledge base. I enjoyed working on that solution.
What do you like best about working with clients?
I’ve noticed since I started at Penn that my colleagues are very open to collaboration. They’re interested in finding solutions and working together — there’s just a warmth. I feel like everyone has each other’s back and is invested in the success of the other people in our group. They just seem to genuinely care about their coworkers as people. That’s one of my favorite parts of working here. Also, the clients and other IT staff I talk to on the phone are a part of that feeling of camaraderie. Even when they’re stressed, there’s a baseline respect for other people that comes through in pretty much all of my interactions. It’s a great place to work.
How do you stay connected with colleagues in our hybrid work environment?
I had the benefit of working about a year in person with my colleagues prior to the pandemic. Now most of what we do happens over Teams. That can be as simple as checking in and saying good morning to the group. It can be little pieces of conversation at the beginning or end of meetings—what someone’s working on or what they’re doing if they’re on campus. Small moments in passing keep us connected to each other and keep those relationships intact. Client Care does meet on campus twice a month. We spend some of that time doing trainings and updates, and sometimes we do things just to have a good time together as a group.
What do you appreciate most about the time you spend on campus?
There’s a certain buzz to particular places for me. It’s always fun being in University City. And there’s a certain energy to being on campus with students. There are always things going on, tables set up on Locust Walk for one activity or another. It’s nice to get to be in the middle of that from time to time.
What are you passionate about in your free time?
I like being active. I really like dancing, being outside, reading. I have kiddos, so I like to go exploring with my kids (ages 12, 10, and 4). I like adventuring — going to new places, and trying new things. I do mindful meditation most days — it enriches my life and quiets my mind.
What would you like people at Penn to know about you?
It’s really important personally and professionally for me to help create places where people feel safe and accepted. That’s kind of a passion that’s near and dear to my heart. I want people to feel included in their authentic selves, whether that’s an identity, orientation, or just the way their life experiences have shaped them. I want people to be able to be themselves and to feel accepted for that. I hope to be a part of fostering that on campus.