Very few of those in academic IT have made the transition to the faculty ranks. Michael and Rahim will discuss their trek to the academic side of the institution and bring their views of the issues of IT support of faculty in teaching and learning. The forced transition to on-line courses due to the pandemic also brought challenges, but having been on the IT service side provided a coping advantage. It also highlighted the bugs, problems and issues that faculty faced in the transition.
Speakers
Michael Hrybyk
Faculty, CSIS | Douglas College
Michael Hrybyk is a faculty member in Computing Studies and Information Systems at Douglas College. He currently teaches Data Structures and Algorithms and courses in advanced object-oriented programming. He retired from BCNET in 2016, holding the position of President/CEO.
Rahim Virani
Faculty, CSIS | Douglas College
Rahim Virani is a faculty member in Computing Studies and Information Systems at Douglas College. He currently teaches advanced courses in web-based scripting and software engineering.
He had a number of positions and responsibilities including Systems and Support Technologist, Network Administrator, Programmer Analyst, Project Leader and served as Manager of Application Systems and Interim Director of Enterprise Systems prior to coming to Douglas College.
Phil Ashman
Regional Dean | Okanagan College
Phil grew up in Nigeria while attending school in England. He moved to Canada in 1986 to complete his education and holds a Master of Science in IT Network Infrastructure and Design, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering. Phil spent 8 years working in Information Technology at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg followed by the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George. In 2002 he joined Okanagan College as a professor in the newly created department of Network and Telecommunications Engineering Technologies. He spent eight years in an instructional role before moving on to become department chair. In 2013 he became the Associate Dean of Science, Technology and Health and has served as the Regional Dean for the Central Okanagan since 2017. Phil is a director on numerous boards and works actively with employers and community partners to generate learning and employment opportunities for students throughout the Okanagan.
Bambang Sarif
Faculty, CSIS | Douglas College
Bambang Sarif is a faculty member in Computing Studies and Information Systems at Douglas College. He had a PhD degree from the Electrical and Computer Engineering department of UBC. Before he pursued his PhD degree, he had a number of positions and responsibilities in academic IT at the College of Computer Sciences and Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia; where he worked as UNIX/LINUX system administration, System and Network support, Web Developer and Network Coordinator that oversee the overall running of the network support division of the College. Currently he is teaching courses in data visualization, machine learning and advanced web scripting/development at Douglas College.