Title: Web Specialist/PAWS Administrator, PAWS Office, Enrollment Services
Family: My immediate family consists of my beautiful wife and best friend Uzma Bhatti (Instructional Designer in the College of Education) and my daughter Nadia, born August 23, 2008, both of whom I love more than anything else in the world.
How long have you worked at Georgia State? I began working for GSU in January of 2008, and I've loved every minute of it. Well, almost every minute of it. It has its moments.
What do you do on a typical day? My most time-consuming part of working with PAWS is identifying opportunities to improve the portal on the administrative side and on the user side. PAWS is in its infant stages and requires a lot of planning and adjusting. As the portal becomes more widely adopted by the GSU community, we are able to identify what works and what doesn't work functionally and technically.
Another huge part of my role is to act as liaison between the functional side and the technical side. Having a working knowledge of computer information technology and the experience of working closely with the administrative functions of a large university allows me to coordinate the two sides.
What's your background? My background is a mixture of IT, public relations and marketing. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations from the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications, personally focusing on technical communications and online media. My previous work experience has spanned several different roles including a computer information systems instructor at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, FL; an associate of a public relations agency in Orlando, FL; a web developer and technical writer for UF's Division of Distance and Continuing Education; and a public relations and online marketing coordinator for that same division. My work history might seem like it's all over the place, but I always made it a point to leverage my knowledge, skills, and experience in all areas with every job, especially my current one.
What do you do when you're not working? My hobbies have included gaming, writing, music, acting, singing, hiking, and tinkering with technology. My most recent hobby has been spending time with my wife and daughter. Even more recently, I've been spending time planning and making improvements to the home we just bought. Notice that I don't quite refer to that as a hobby.
What's your favorite thing in your office? My laptop, or at least that's what I tell it to keep it happy. If it ever crashed for some reason, I don't know what I'd do. All of my notes, documents, and other miscellaneous work-related files are stored on it. (Note to self: Buy an external hard drive, and set up a recurring automated backups.)
The only thing above my laptop is my cell phone, but don't tell my laptop.
What don't people know about you? Something I seldom share with others is my passion for playing the congas, specifically Latin Jazz. It has always been a strong creative outlet for me. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of selling my congas a long time ago, and I've since been eager to acquire a new set so that I can play again. I'm currently accepting donations.
I've also dabbled a bit with the bass guitar. While it was fun and interesting, it just wasn't the same.
If you weren't working at Georgia State, what would your ideal job be? I don't believe in "ideal" jobs, as they seldom exist. Every job has its rewards along with its frustrations. All I ever want in any job is the ability to utilize my knowledge, skills, and experience to contribute as much as I can, and that's all I can expect. At the end of the day I want to go home knowing that in some way I've made something better.
Of course, I wouldn't mind being able to make a good living as a sci-fi/fantasy writer or as a Latin Jazz percussionist.