- Campus:
- IU Bloomington
What did you want to be as a child, and how has that journey led you to where you are today?
If you had asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, until I was 15, I would have said an archaeologist. I wanted to be Indiana Jones. In high school, I spent several summers helping with digs and quickly decided that the constant sunburn and ongoing grant writing that the supervising archaeologist told us about weren’t for me. I spent my free time as a kid taking things apart to see how they worked (especially my older sister’s toys, which she did not appreciate). I thought that meant I would end up in an engineering field, but math wasn’t my forte.
Now that I look back, I realize that what I really like to do is to dig into a problem, take it apart to see how it works, and think about the implications of the problem and how to solve it.
Could you explain some of the responsibilities of your role at IU?
Every day is a little different and it’s always interesting. My team focuses on ensuring every Kelley instructor can provide the best learning experience possible for their students. As a result, we do everything from designing Canvas course sites to creating immersive virtual environments and hundreds of course videos in our new Jellison Studios.
Kelley has over 350 faculty teaching everything from undergraduate survey courses to executive education courses for NFL players. Our courses are a kind of microcosm of the world, because they include analysis, technology, social relationships, creativity, communication and more. That means my team and I start by understanding what the instructor teaches and how they teach it. Only then can we work with them to match the right tools for the job.
My role is to manage all of those projects while always being on the lookout for new tools and new content forms that might impact how we teach and learn. I get to experiment with new technologies and help brilliant faculty be even better teachers.
What is your philosophy on leadership, and how do you strive to inspire and lead others in your professional role?
I think my top responsibility as a manager is to clear obstacles for my team so they can do the awesome things they do every day. I’m a cheerleader and an advocate for them and part of that is being able to do what they do so I understand what they need. I love learning from the talented instructional consultants, videographers, and post-production editors and graphics professionals on the team.
My approach is one that I borrowed from a series of mystery novels, as strange as that sounds. Louise Penny, a Canadian writer, has a series of murder mysteries called The Three Pines Mysteries. The lead detective, Gamache, has four key phrases that he insists all his detectives learn to say and mean: “I don’t know. I’m sorry. I made a mistake. I need help.” I do the same with my team and I hope that it makes them less afraid to try new things and more willing to say when they need help from me or from one another.
Do you have any advice for other women in IT?
I don’t think it’s specific to women or to IT, but I’m always telling people to get really good at what they love doing. Be the best at it and tell people. It increases the likelihood that you’ll spend your career doing something that you love.
Speaking specifically of IT, I preach the “And Rule.” IT itself just isn’t a thing anymore unless you want to be something straightforward like a hardware support specialist. Otherwise, because it’s so pervasive, careers are now IT and something else such as learning & IT, Humanities & IT, or medicine & IT. If technology itself isn’t your passion, pairing it with what is will always be beneficial to your career.
What is your favorite book, tv show, or movie that has had an impact on you?
I’m a junkie for movies, tv, podcasts and audio books. There’s so much available that it’s difficult to choose a favorite. But, if forced to pick one that has had a big impact on me, I’d choose Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. I’ve read all 41 of them at least twice, some many times more. Not only are they fun and a great escape from the everyday world, I learn something new every time I pick one up.