A Matter of FACT Center Field Trip

It was a brisk Autumn afternoon.  Our Foundations class went into the Stanford Merrill-Cazier Library and up to the second floor.  We were ushered in a secret entrance (Room 208) and into a luxurious conference room.  We were greeted by a nice lady who answered all of our FACT center questions:

 

What is the FACT center?  The Faculty Assistance Center for Teaching provides IT support in areas such as audio production, Blackboard development, grant & research writing, and technology training workshops.  Examples of this support are digitizing classroom media, helping a teacher convert paper-based instruction to computer-based, recording instructional videos, and giving seminars on IT programs like Camtasia or Dreamweaver.

 

How much do FACT employees make?  None of your business.

 

Do FACT employees get summers off like teachers?  No.  It would be nice, but no.

 

Can USU graduates work in the FACT center?  Yes, it is not like academia where working for one's alma mater is considered academic incest.

 

Why does Blackboard return to the home page when attempting a download, forcing users to navigate to the link a second time?  To prevent viruses (and because of bad coding)

 

This was a very enjoyable field trip.  We got a taste of what INST graduates do with their degrees and it seemed like a very agreeable place to work.  The atmosphere was friendly and warm plus the thermostat was set very high.  It was also weird to put a layout map to a part of the library that has remained blank in my mind for so many years.  I never wondered what went on behind those mysterious doors on the second floor.

It was also interesting to see that a person in our cohort was already working in the FACT center and had her own desk and computer and everything.

After attending this field trip, I decided next semester I would like to attend a few of the workshops on programs with which I have no training like InDesign, DreamWeaver, and Camtasia.  I would also like to go downstairs and talk to the people in charge of USU's speech recognition lab because they have Dragon Naturally Speaking Professional installed down there and I would like to see how well it works.

It would be nice to work in the FACT center because you get to work with technology, stay in the university atmosphere, and remain in beautiful Cache Valley.  The downside to such employment would be waiting years before you have enough office standing to change the thermostat to something reasonable.