Author: Derek
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Making time: Because There is Always Time
Making time has been a recurring theme throughout my tenure at EPS. Unlike finding time or hunting for uninterrupted time, making time is a bit different. Finding time involves scheduling tasks or projects without interference, while hunting for uninterrupted time is about sticking to that schedule. Making time, however, often throws the whole process off.…
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A Watchful Eye: The Rollout of Follett Destiny
We realize the need for a proper Asset Management System (AMS) once or twice a year. Every May, we take on 130-200 new laptops, and the first realization hits. The second realization occurs every three years when we manage 200 new laptops and receive about 70 faculty laptops back. Whether for students or staff, we…
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Finding Time: A Year in Review
At the end of last school year, when I volunteered to be in the inaugural cohort of the Staff PDP, I was in a completely different headspace. I was looking forward to one of the slowest summers I’ve had at EPS, with no building projects or major infrastructure overhauls—just maintenance and the usual running of…
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The hunt for ‘uninterrupted’ time: A day in the life
To be honest, the hardest part of the PDP was finding time to do it. More specifically, finding ‘uninterrupted’ time to focus on it. Everyone is pulled in multiple directions in a given day or week, but I often find myself at the end of the day thinking, “What did I actually accomplish today?” I…
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EPS: Finding Comfort Again
Nine years is a long time. Before EPS, my longest stint at any institution was ten years, at Most Holy Trinity. From kindergarten to 8th grade, I was in the same two buildings at MHT. It was a small school of around 200, and due to my grandparents, parents, and siblings’ involvement, I knew everyone.…
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Informacast: The gift that keeps on giving
When I first started at EPS, campus-wide communication was done via classroom phone speakers. It wasn’t ideal, but for a smaller campus with smaller classrooms, it sufficed. However, as our campus expanded, particularly with the TMAC building, we quickly realized the need for a more robust intercom system. After the first year of the TMAC…
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Windows Hyper-V Failover Cluster: A journey that never truly ends
When I started at EPS, the Notorious Roger Mack was working to deploy our first EPS Hyper-V Cluster. This cluster utilized Windows Server 2012 (Win 2012) and consisted of three new Lenovo Servers and two (not-so-new) SuperMicro Servers. The Lenovo boxes acted as hosts and the SuperMicros acted as network drives. Together, these five boxes…