So Far in 2013

Starting the year 2013 has been pretty busy so far.  With the start of a new year, we also have a new CIO that will be working with us at SUU.  Many of my co-workers have been nervous about the changes that come with getting a new boss, and so far, I think things are going well.  I haven’t really talked with him very much, but I think he is getting settled in and we will probably hear more about what our future will be like with the technology on campus.

I’ve kept busy in getting the computer labs ready for the new semester to start.  Before the last semester ended, I tried to get information from the faculty about what software they would need on the computers for this spring semester.  For all of you who don’t know, I manage about 750 computers on campus, which are spread out into maybe 20 or so computer labs.  One of the fun projects I was able to implement during the break was a computer lab availability website, so that students would be able to see how busy the computer labs are.  During that same time, I also install software that the teachers will need for the next semester.  I only had a couple of faculty members tell me what software they needed.  One piece of software was pretty difficult to install on the computers, and it took me probably 3 days to get it working correctly.

Now that the semester has started, I have more faculty that “need” software installed for their classes.  It’s pretty typical that the faculty tell me about what they need after their classes have already started.  It makes it difficult because now all of the students are back, classes are going, and I have a hard time getting into the computer labs to install the software for them.  Luckily, our policy states that after the first week of classes have finished, I don’t have to accept any more requests from faculty for that semester of classes.

Mikki is enjoying her job over in the Library.  She is learning all of her duties as an administrative assistant, such as balancing the budgets, she is the academic advisor for the Library Media Program, and she also gets miscellaneous tasks to help out the faculty and staff in the library.  I’m glad she is able to work with good people so she is able to be happy with her job.

We have been looking for a home now in Cedar City for the past few months now.  We just offered on a home that is close to campus and hope to find out soon if it will be accepted.  It is exciting to think of the possibility of owning a home as well as overwhelming, since it costs so much $$$.  We know some people that live in the same area which makes us more comfortable about purchasing.

This past saturday (Jan 12th), we were able to go to St. George to an endowment session in the temple.  Mikki’s sister Chelsea is preparing to go on her mission in February.  She will be serving in the Florida Tallahassee Mission.  We were happy to be able to witness her receive the blessings and promises of the endowment ordinance.  We are also excited that she has decided to serve a mission, even though we will miss her for a year and a half.

Our plans for the rest of the month include teaching the Sunday School lesson this upcoming Sunday, playing racquetball with some friends, getting up earlier in the morning to exercise, listening to Chelsea speak in church before leaving, and whatever else comes up in between.  We’ll see how we do.