What area do you work in within the VPFA portfolio?
I work in Transportation Services, which is under Campus Services in the VPFA portfolio.
What is your current position, and what are your job responsibilities?
I am the Active Transportation Coordinator. I support the many transportation programs on campus, including the LTD bus pass, Peacehealth Rides bike share, E-scooters, the Emergency Ride Home program, the E-bike lending library, and more! I also support the department by maintaining the website and doing data analysis.
What has been your career path; how did you end up in your current position?
I have worked in a one-hour photo lab, grocery store customer service, and as a shift supervisor at Starbucks. When my wife and I moved to Oregon a decade ago, I first got a job working in the office of an irrigation manufacturing company. In 2015, a position opened up in what was then Parking and Transportation for the Citation Appeal Coordinator and I applied. As responsibilities in the department shifted over time, I took on more tasks supporting transportation options on campus. In 2018, my position was reclassified to focus on supporting those programs and I became the Active Transportation Coordinator.
How has working at UO enabled your professional goals and interests?
Taking advantage of the Employee Tuition Discount has been a huge help professionally. Although I had taken college classes previously, I never completed my degree. When COVID hit, our entire department was placed on reduced hours. I took advantage of the time to start taking classes again and this spring completed my bachelor’s degree in Planning, Public Policy, and Management.
What do you like about your current position?
I get to interact with a wide range of people and departments across campus. Transportation underlies almost everything we do on a daily basis, and so there are opportunities to connect with folks at all levels of campus, from incoming students attending orientation to faculty working on research. I also enjoy a lot of variety in the kinds of projects I work on. One day I might be using software to create a dashboard tracking how full our parking lots are and the next day I can be talking with local partners on the best way to engage students in riding bikes or using the bus. It can sometimes feel like I’m being pulled in too many directions, but the variety keeps the job interesting!
Please share some insight into what your job involves.
This spring we started an e-bike lending library for faculty, staff, and students. Participants can borrow an e-bike for a couple of weeks and decide whether it is worth the investment to purchase one. This project involved grant writing for funding from EWEB and building a partnership with the EMU Bike Program to do maintenance, orientation, and check-out of the bikes. We also worked with researchers in the PPPM department to create surveys tracking participant behavior. I’m very proud of this program because we have been able to collaborate with student mechanics in the Bike Program and faculty in PPPM to provide a useful service to the campus community.
A little about me
I live with my wife Eliza and our two cats—Rori and Willa—in downtown Eugene. We own half of a duplex and love living in walking distance to shops and restaurants. It’s also easy for me to hop on the EmX and bus to work. I love to cook and I like trying new recipes all the time, but if I had to pick one food that always makes me happy it would be fried chicken. It’s tricky to get it right at home, so if you’re reading this and there’s a spot you love, please email me!
(July 2023)