Past SPARK experiences

Here is a selection of past SPARK experiences. This is not a comprehensive list, but gives a sense of the types of experiences this program covers.

• Research Information Systems Director José Jimenez hosted an open house event to share information about RIS and opportunities within the unit
• Senior Director of ITS Research Services Ben Rogers organized sessions to introduce staff to RS and its services, and to explore career possibilities in research computing
• Staff and team leads from Extended Technical Support (ETS) and Help Desk have job shadowed each other, observing each respective work group's tools and processes for two to four hours at a time. The ETS staff have given tours of their support areas and demoed their equipment nd support processes. The Help Desk staff have had ETS staff join them on phone calls with customers so they can see the types of questions and support the Help Desk provides via e-mail and live chat. 
• A Lead Database Administrator from the Business Intelligence Shared Services Center (BISSC) is on assignment in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), helping them with their collegiate strategic business intelligence initiatives.
• An IT Director from CLAS is spending part of his time on assignment in Enterprise Infrastructure, leading the Server Support Team (SST) work unit.
• The College of Engineering provided SPARK opportunities in Linux desktop deployment and administration, delivering customized virtual desktop environments for instruction, and the support of artificial intelligence and deep learning technologies in education and research.
• ITS Help Desk hosts observation experiences, covering all aspects of help desk operations. 

Interested in hosting a SPARK a experience? Submit your opportunity via this quick survey and it will be posted on this webpage.