What area do you work in within the VPFA portfolio?
I work in CPFM Work Management and Administrative Support as part of the Work Control Center team.
What is your current position, and what are your job responsibilities?
I am the Work Control Program Assistant Lead. I oversee the customer relations, correspondence, and work order generation for facilities services alongside the Work Control Center Manager.
What has been your career path; how did you end up in your current position?
I was a non-traditional student at the UO getting my undergrad degree. I worked as a student worker for Zero Waste—with Jeff Ziglinski—back in 2013. I drove the van around and picked up recycling all over campus. I did that for a couple of years; they allowed me to work summers, so that was nice. I was married and needed to work to help support the family.
Unfortunately, my studies were interrupted due to a heart attack and spent two weeks in the hospital including a week in the ICU. The half-a-million-dollar hospital bill ended my student career, but I did come out the other side. I stopped studying and instead got a custodian position on the graveyard shift. I did that 2015 through 2022 and then moved to floor crew. From there, I tried out a position in Work Control as part of the developmental opportunity program. When a position came open in Work Control, I applied for it and got it! The job really suits me—I guess I fit right in!
What is your work history and education that enabled you to attain your current position?
I previously worked as a supervisor at a local novelty gift wholesaler and a telephone technical support technician with Symantec, so I have computer experience, but I didn’t want to go into the IT side as a career. I have an Associate of Arts degree and was studying math before my heart attack. My dad was a high school math teacher; he taught for 35 years, in Drain and at Lane Community College. I was born in Cottage Grove and raised in Drain, Oregon; I only moved out of state once, to live in San Diego. There was too much sun, too many people, and I missed my family so I returned home to Oregon!
How has working at UO enabled your professional goals and interests?
I love the university atmosphere; I am a big sports fan. I love basketball and this is the first year I have season tickets to men’s basketball. The UO is a good place for me, and I love it.
The team we have in Work Control is amazing. The whole team is very smart and supportive and very customer-service oriented. I enjoy helping people across campus; we focus on solving problems and connecting people with the right person to solve their problem.
What do you like about your current position?
I am a tech savvy guy, so the computer work is right up my alley. I think I have pretty good attention to detail so I can connect the dots and remember important elements from previous work done. If something comes up that looks familiar, I can look it up and connect the dots. The system works really well. We are a small team of four people; we all help each other. The great part about our system is that people can submit tickets online, they can do it over the phone, or they can send an email. We tell people “It’s dealer’s choice—however you want to contact us is okay!”
Please share some insight into what your job involves.
I like to help the customers solve their problems. I also like to make the work easier for people in the shops who go out on these calls. Getting the right information from the customers and getting it to the people doing the work is really important. Our number is everywhere on campus so sometimes we get calls for Housing, Athletics, and even Transportation, we’re happy to connect those callers to the appropriate avenues to get them the help they need.
CPFM is huge and we deal with so many kinds of issues: heating, cooling, elevator issues, water leaks (even when it is not raining). There was a water leak in Pacific Hall last year that ended up being significant. I don’t feel stress with the job, though. We do important work, but it is not life and death. We deal with a lot of property issues, but luckily, I think I have the personality for it and it doesn’t stress me out. Getting stressed out doesn’t help with getting to a solution, so I don’t have any use for it.
Working tech support for Symantec was much higher stress but that was because it was a challenge to deal with the angry customers. Here, we almost never get a really angry customer, so that really helps to manage stress levels. Also, our quick response times have given us a reputation for getting things done. The people working in the shops are great and they get problems fixed very quickly and efficiently. I give them a lot of credit for that.
What advice do you have for someone thinking of applying to the UO?
Be persistent! You are probably not getting into the UO the first time you try. When I got hired as a custodian, I had two interviews and was told I didn’t get the job. Lucky for me, they called me back a month later and I did get the job. It was a very competitive group, apparently.
Something else to think about: there’s a lot of factors more important than money. We have a really good quality of life working at the UO, and good health insurance. All that is very important and shouldn’t be overlooked.
Share a little about yourself personally:
- Family: It’s me and my wife now because the kids are grown. I have a daughter in Portland who owns a dog grooming business, she is doing well. She went to OSU and so did her husband, who is an engineer. My son currently lives with his aunt and uncle in California but will soon be moving back home, which makes my wife very happy.
- Favorite food: Anything barbecue or smoked!
- Best movies you’ve seen
- The Usual Suspects
- Tag
- The original “It” movie
- If you could only take three items with you to a deserted island, what would they be?
- My wife
- Starlink
- A laptop
- How do you want to be remembered?
- As a kind person
- If you could have the answer to any question, what would it be?
- The answer to life, the universe, and everything!
(October 2025)