A Brief History of the Information Technology Liaison at William & Mary, as retold by Mike Blum
I began liaising in August 2001, so my knowledge of the ancient history of the species is murky at best, therefore I'll reserve my comments to my own experiences and interactions.
Since I was hired on an hourly contract before I was actually a full-time liaison, my interview process was less arduous than other interviews. However, I did interview with Gene and Rob, and one of the things I remember about the interviews is that the focus was on my academic interests and how those interests meshed with my IT qualifications. Both Gene and Rob were happy to let me talk about my abilities, and there wasn't too much stress on what I didn't know. However, I understood that I had a lot of work to do to get up to speed on the technology I'd eventually need to know for the job, and I spent many evenings and weekends at the beginning just catching up with the technology. I was first given Modern Languages, with Pablo as a mentor as he transitioned out of that department, and without that early tutelage, it would have taken me much longer to figure things out. I know Will didn't get that sort of apprenticeship (I think it was a few weeks), and I wonder if he thinks it might have been beneficial to have it. When I first began as a liaison, the job was largely troubleshooting problems, but whether that was a function of my very new relationship with the department or a function of the job back then, I have no way to judge. I think it was a little of both. Once I was comfortable with handling Modern Languages, I was given the Reves Center and Religion to free Rob and Mark up for other duties, and I remember having a similar role in both of those departments. I was basically the techie, and I fixed printers, updated software, scrounged for equipment, etc.
Every chance I got, I would chat with faculty members in all three departments about the work they were doing and about my own teaching and academic research, and I remember how surprised many of them were to find out that I was NOT a techie, but an academic who was good at technology. I spent extra time teaching them how and why they could use the technology they had at their disposal, and as tindividual faculty members began to see me as an educator and as someone with a broad humanities background, the more they trusted me with pedagogical issues. During my first six months at IT, I was always referred to as "the tech guy" by the vast majority of the faculty. In the past six months, I have noticed that I am referred to more and more as the "department's technology expert," which may not seem very different at first blush, but the difference is, I think, an important philosophical distinction. I spend much more time these days developing resources than I do troubleshooting problems, and again, that may be more a function of my own development than a commentary on the evolution of the job.
posted by Mike at 11:46 AM
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