IT Support Officer - Student Affairs: Admissions Office
What does this title conjure in the mind? That I am so savvy with computing, that I have been given an IT tag? That I am actually good enough in my knowledge of technology that I can support the other office staff? That I am in the admissions office?.......Well yes to all of the above although it really WASN'T mentioned in my interview that I did have this knowledge, only that I am very comfortable with applications and also learn new applications very quickly :D - Lucky for me I understated in the interview, as I have been thrown full throttle into a computing support role.
When the lady I work with in admissions asked me to change the sign on the door, all that I did was copy what was already there, spaced it a bit more evenly, brightened the colours slightly, and took the name of the other person that left and put my name on it. Keep in mind that under our names they have what our title is, so I put as one would suppose and expect I would..... IT Support Officer - Student Affairs:
Oh the consternation! Oh the puzzlement! Student Affairs are now so important they need their own IT Support? What type of Support? Why isn't the IT Department handling our support? Do the IT Department know? Am I involved with them? Do I fix the machines? What exactly do I do? They actually had a meeting regarding it :D
Everyone here is very possessive of their position and area of expertise, as well as everyone else's and need to know exactly what role people have, and what is expected from that role, and if you do step out of your area or are asked to, then it is asked HOW COME?… ISN'T THAT ??'s AREA?… DO THEY KNOW?… WHY ARE YOU ASKED TO DO IT?… WHY WASN'T ?? ASKED TO DO IT?… Well me not knowing exactly what was expected of me, I was at a bit of a loss to explain what exactly IT Support Officer was, so had to do a bit of bluffing re my title.
I was asked to do a map of the female campus ground floor for orientation for the new students starting the spring semester to try to make life a bit easier for them. So away I went, pad in hand and got the locations, room numbers, and titles of the different sections and put them into a very nice lay out complete with a faded picture of university in the background. This went down very well and was accepted with no hesitation as it did look very professional and nice.
Then we were all asked to design a flyer for the different services offered to the students for orientation. As I am the IT person in our department some of the ladies came to me to show me the design they were already using but as there were a few “small problems” and they didn't have the knowledge to correct them. I refused to use what they had shown me so came up with my own design (with some help from my own IT expert at home).
Well this was exclaimed over that I had been able to make our logo round (as it should be) instead of oval, and that the coloured decoration lines of my design actually met in the middle of the outside fold both front and back instead of one at the inner fold front cover, and one on the outside edge back cover. I had also put a faded picture of the very impressive front gates as well as some smaller logos on the inside edges and did some very nice separating lines to demarcate the different text areas.
Needless to say this design was taken up immediately and sent to everyone on both male & female campus as the template to put their work on :)........yes my head is expanding at a great rate. I must admit I was very impressed when they came back from the printer - they looked fantastic :D
What has all this to do with admissions you might ask? Well the departmental heads decided that as all new students have to pass through the admissions office before ever beginning their student life that it would make them feel more comfortable having people from the admissions office joining in the orientation day - so I had to design and present a very short power point presentation with certain important info of where to get ID's, get laptops coded for wireless access, bus timetable etc. I was then asked to do the schedules for both campus's and also organize a tour of the facilities for the new students - so my involvement with orientation day was......... very involved :D
Oh and I also was sent all the finished flyers to correct any grammar or spelling errors before going to the printer as at that time I was the only western female working in the administration area. We now have another that has joined us.
I must say I am enjoying my job very much. I didn't realize just how big an area that student affairs covers and what planning and thought goes into organizing activities to get students involved in campus life. So far I have taken part in developing a new filing system for the students, aerobics, yoga, aromatherapy, orientation, prep orientation, information days, more yoga, and blood donation day and a trip to Riyadh for marketing.
Blood Donation Day: I thought ok, this has been billed as a big event. Our nurse was very excited about this day and I was also keeping in mind and that when I cut my finger on a glass in the sink the nurse very kindly dressed it every day for me and was lovely.
So being part of a team I moseyed down to the nurses office to have a look at what was happening and with the thought to donate.
Imagine my surprise at the amount of people lining up to donate and when I started to fill in the form - the next minute the camera was stuck in my face to record me filling the form, then as I waited to be called it was snapped again. I was called for blood pressure & temperature check and yes snapped one more time complete with thermometer in mouth and blood pressure cuff on.
It was then to the next station to get my blood type mapped and you guessed it, snapped again. So not only did I have to have my finger severely pricked, but had to wait with the blood balancing on the tip for the pic to be taken.
I was then taken into the actual patient area and when I lay down on the table snap again. The tourniquet was placed around my arm with the exclamation from the doctor - oh what big veins you have! and - snapped again. I was then hooked up to the blood bag and asked to squeeze a rubber ball to let the blood come out easier - and yes snapped for the final time :D - but to their consternation the blood poured out of me, so ball was immediately taken away, tourniquet loosened and I was finished in half the time of the other ladies. Oh the joys of having "big veins".
The camera comes out at all these events, but they have to be very careful NOT to get any of the Arab ladies with their hair or face uncovered. The Arab ladies are very sensitive in general about being in any picture at all so it is a real boon for the department having me here so they can snap happily to record the different events :D
After all this I was asked to go to our director's office and was completely taken aback when asked if I would like to go to Riyadh for a High School information presentation. They do high school visits here to present via power point what facilities we have, what we offer etc in the hope that we can get some of the graduating students to our uni.
Of course I jumped at the opportunity and was very pleased and surprised to be asked :D - The only problem was that we (the other lady going with me) prepared the power point presentation and literature and gifts for the expected 40 students and the same for the men for the next day. The reality was.....
When we arrived it was to a full on expo complete with our own booth (the men had been in to set it all up so all we had to do was arrive :D) and about 20 other universities representing themselves. It was very busy with bus loads of high school students coming through. We soon got into the swing of things and became very proficient with our information and what we had to offer. We had to start rationing our flyers etc when we realized there as an afternoon session, as well as for the men the next day.
The Arab lady I was with did most of the talking..... in you guessed it Arabic, whilst I attracted all the girls because I am western. I was the novelty act :D and we really attracted a lot of attention with the girls all coming by to say hello and to try their English out - it was a great day.
What does all this have to do with admissions I hear you ask yet again? Not a lot...hahahahaha although if we get any new students from these visits then they might get to see me in the admissions office.....lol
The lady I went with originates from Riyadh, so I was very privileged to be invited over the lunch break to her parents home. It must have been quite an occasion because not only did I meet her parents, but aunty, uncle, brothers, sister, nieces, and a cousin. Her dad works in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was very interesting to talk to and her mum didn't have much English, but with translations we had a lot of laughs and a very nice lunch.
So who would have thought from my job title that all these things would be taking place :D and only in my second month - I am enjoying my job very much.
Looking forward to coming back on the 25th and eagerly awaiting the birth of my granddaughter :D
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