Get to Know Us

Get to Know Us, October 2020

Get to Know Us: Jason Trinklein

Jason Trinklein is our brand-new Director of Infrastructure and we were all very excited to welcome him to ITS just one month ago.

Jason grew up near Oyster Bay, New York and attended Stony Brook University before transferring to the College of Charleston, and completing his Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. Jason has experience working in and leading a number of IT departments at institutions in Charleston, including the Art Institute of Charleston, Christ Our King-Stella Maris School and the College of Charleston. Meanwhile, he’s also started a few small businesses, taught Computer Science at the college and junior-high level, and completed his Masters Degree in Computer Science from Georgia Tech.

In his ‘spare’ time he enjoys reading; at present he’s reading the Asimov “Foundation Series” of books, and its study of the herd psychology of humanity. He also has an interest in the works of Carl Sagan and Richard Feynman, and a love of Pizza!

Jason is excited to join ITS, work on solving complex problems and particularly looks forward to making a difference in people’s lives by improving their quality of education through technology.

Interested in talking with Jason about Physics, Pizza or about how he and ITS can help your department be more productive? Click here to email him.

“Get to Know Us” is a recurring column that introduces and highlights ITS staff members.

Get to Know Us

Get to Know Us: Andy Morrow

Andrew Morrow

Andy Morrow is a Senior Business Analyst and Programmer with the Administrative Information Services (AIS) group of ITS and has been with Clark University for 5 years.

What is a Senior Business Analyst, you might ask! When asked what he does at parties, Andy has a great, easy to understand answer –

“A University manages a lot of data. Clark University will provide better services and make better decisions if we are able to organize, access, and interpret that data effectively. I work with administrative offices on campus helping them improve reporting and implement new software applications with the goal of improving their operations and providing better service to students.”

But going above and beyond is what Andy really enjoys. He particularly likes solving thorny problems by implementing tools, answering interesting questions, and brainstorming the best way to approach new situations.

Andy is originally from the “other” Portland (Oregon) and before joining Clark five years ago worked as Director of Student Account Services at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. Now he lives in Worcester with his wife Sarah, and sons Benedict and Charlie. In his spare time, he likes to eat at Dead Horse Hill, play board games (particularly Azul and Pandemic) and reading, with a recent favorite being “How Long ’til Black Future Month”, by N.K. Jemisin.

Interested in asking Andy for some reading recommendations or about how he and AIS can help your department meet your goals? Click here to find his contact information.

“Get to Know Us” is a recurring column that introduces and highlights ITS staff members.

Get to Know Us, November 2019

ITS Gift Guide – 2019

As Black Friday and gift-giving holidays approach, the ITS team have come together to share our geekiness with the campus!

While you’re looking to find the best technology deals and gifts, we thought we’d highlight the fun techy things, or super-geeky gadgets that we’ve bought this year or have on our holiday Wish Lists.

If you still have questions about your technology purchases after reading through our recommendations, give us a call! Click here to contact us.

Amazon Fire Kids

For the kids, or clumsy people, in your life

Submitted by Joe Kalinowski, Interim CIO

“Little kids love tech too, and we love Amazon Fires for Kids. They’re especially nice because they’re much cheaper than other tablets, they come with a guarantee for two years for uh-oh’s, and they come with a year of FreeTime which is a set of tools that help you manage content your kids can see and time they spend on the device.”

Click here to learn more about the Amazon Fire for Kids

Blackout Buddy

For the Scouts in your life who are always prepared

Submitted by Justin Brooks, Manager of Endpoint Systems

“American Red Cross Blackout Buddy Charge Emergency LED Flashlight, Blackout Alert, Nightlight & Phone Charger is a device which has an internal battery that charges while plugged in; when the power goes out the flashlight turns on to serve as an emergency light and the battery can be used to charge a device via USB for emergency power.”

Click here to learn more about the Blackout Buddy

Ember Smart Mug

For the busy coffee lover in your life

Submitted by Nicholas Blank, Senior Business/Data Analyst with AIS

“My wife got me an Ember Smart Mug and it’s a truly wonderful gadget. It’s a nice looking mug with a heating element in the bottom and a Bluetooth connection to your phone so you can set your coffee to the temperature you like and it actually stays that temperature until the last sip. The charger even looks like a nice matching saucer. If possible, I now look forward to my morning coffee EVEN MORE.”

Click here to learn more about Ember Smart Mugs

Overcooked

For the perfect couples in your life

Submitted by Joanne Dolan, Director for Academic Technology and Client Support

“Overcooked is a couch co-operative game that will test the best of relationships! You need to work together to run a kitchen with lots of moving parts, including moving workspaces, powercuts and fires. When my husband and I play there’s lots of panicking, shouting orders, blaming each other and laughing – but we still like each other at the end! Available on Steam for Windows 10 and Mac, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch”

Click here to learn more about Overcooked

Fitfort Sunrise Clock

For the Daylight Savings hater in your life

Submitted by Sharon Griffin-Edson, Help Desk Supervisor

“I hate waking up in the dark, so I bought this alarm clock that simulates a natural sunrise, and so far I’m loving it!”

Click here to learn more about Sunrise Alarm Clocks

Dji Spark Drone

For the Big Brother/photographer in your life

Submitted by Becky Frieden, Director of Administrative Information Services

“I bought my husband the Dji Spark Drone last year. He loves it – the camera takes amazing photos.”

Click here to learn more about Dji Spark Drones

Get to Know Us, November 2019

Get to Know Us: Joe Kalinowski

Joe Kalinowski

Joe is currently the Interim CIO & Assistant Vice President for IT. In this role, he ensures that the Clark community has the support they need to best utilize data and technology to accomplish their goals.

He has been at Clark for almost 14 years where he has led initiatives to strengthen the reliability and resilience of our IT infrastructure, minimize our risk around information security, improve user interactions with IT, and has been an adjunct faculty member in GSOM since 2016. Prior to Clark, Joe was at WPI for almost a decade focused on academic technology. Joe has earned his CISSP, a B.S. in Computer Science from WPI, and an MBA from Clark University. In a prior life Joe was also the technical director for a local theater company that produced summer community theater at local high schools and the now closed Foothills Theater (where the Unum building is downtown today).

Talking with students, parents, and the community about Clark is one of Joe’s favorite parts of the job. Hearing a story about the impact of Clark helps put the daily work we do into perspective.

Joe was born and raised in Holden where he still lives today with his wife Tara and two sons, John and Andrew. It wouldn’t be uncommon to find Joe outside of the office coaching Little League baseball, doing something that loosely resembles golfing, or visiting a Disney park. However you will always find Joe at Ocean Beach Park Polka Days at the end of June.

Interested in asking Joe more about how IT can help you meet your department’s goals or his best Polka moves? Click here to find his contact information.

“Get to Know Us” is a recurring column that introduces and highlights ITS staff members.

Get to Know Us, September 2019

Get to Know Us: Jim Hilow

Jim Hilow

Jim Hilow has been a part of the Clark community for almost 20 years, and is our Senior Endpoint Administrator.

Jim loves his job supporting all the different areas of technology at the university, and particularly likes the fact that he gets to try new technology before it launches to the campus as a whole.

If he could give one piece of advice to the Clark community, it would be to talk with Jim about the importance of updating your computer backup process on a regular basis.

Jim is another one of the ITS team members that was born and raised in Worcester, and another Clark alumnus with a B.S. in Computer Science. He and his wife have been active foster parents since 2016 and are currently in the process of adopting two most amazing little girls (sisters).

When not spending time with his family, Jim likes to hang out at Peppercorns eating their Lobster Mac & Cheese, enjoys playing the video game “Destiny”, and reading. In fact he highly recommends “The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World” by A.J. Baime.

Interested in asking Jim more about backups and other fun IT questions? Click here to find his contact information.

“Get to Know Us” is a recurring column that introduces and highlights ITS staff members.

Get to Know Us, March 2019

Get to Know Us: Sharon Griffin-Edson

Sharon Griffin Edson has been a part of the Clark community for an amazing 34 years, in a variety of roles in ITS. She is currently the Help Desk Coordinator.

When asked about her job, Sharon describes her work as supporting the Clark community with a wide range of IT issues with help from her colleagues and team of 25 student support staff. She also shares that the best part of her job is interacting with lots of different people, helping them solve problems and discover all the wonderful resources that IT offers.

Sharon is a Worcester native with strong community ties and close family nearby, including a daughter and two step-sons. She has a degree in Mathematics and secondary education from Merrimack College.

Outside of Clark, Sharon enjoys watching The Great British Baking Show and playing board and card games – Rummikub is currently her favorite. Beyond that, a perfect day for her would be a warm, sunny day on the beach with a good book and friends.

Are you interested learning more about the resources IT can offer? Click here to find Sharon’s contact information.

Get to Know Us, January 2019

Get to Know Us: Jim Cormier

“Get to Know Us” is a recurring column that introduces and highlights different ITS staff members. This issue we are highlighting Jim Cormier. Jim Cormier has been a part of the Clark community for over ten years, and is our Manager of Campus Media Services.

When describing his work to people outside IT, he often describes it as “I get to play with sound systems and projectors and they pay me for it.” His favorite part of the job is finding solutions that either improve office operations or enhances the production of an event; and loves it when people ask him to help solve challenges with technology.

Though he began his career in hotel management, he found himself increasingly drawn to the audio/visual (A/V) aspects of the work, and decided to change direction and focus on that for a career. He’s worked professionally in the A/V sector for 30 years and has been a hobby musician since the early 1970s.

If there’s only one thing people know about Jim’s life outside Clark, it’s that he is a Parrothead (a dedicated Jimmy Buffet fan). In fact, when asked if he could take a class from anyone in the world, he choose Jimmy Buffet, and hoped that he too could learn how to make a world-class business from a song that never made it to the Billboard charts! He spends many vacations chasing the Jimmy Buffet life and says his perfect day would be spent on a Caribbean beach, playing guitar for family, friends and anyone who wished to listen.

Interested in asking Jim for advice on A/V, event technology, or the best way to get to Margaritaville? Click here to find his contact information.

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