Brian Phillip
joined the Learning
Resources Center in 2004 as an Information Technology Specialist to
provide support for the technical aspects of the College of Education's
distance education offerings and video services. He operates, maintains,
and schedules the distance education studio classroom, provides technical
support to faculty, staff, and students, and provides video production
and editing support. A 1998 Auburn University Mass Communications graduate,
Brian has worked with OIT in the past as a production supervisor and video
editor.
Brian, welcome to the
College
of Education. You've been here for about 2 months now; what are you
still getting used to?
The schedule.This isn’t
an 8 - 5 job. Some classes are held at night, so I end up coming in late
in the morning or even after lunch and staying here until 9:30pm. But I’m
able to adjust my schedule and not have to report at 8 a.m. the next day.
What has been the most
challenging aspect of your job so far?
The most challenging aspect
of my job is the constant changes in the field. There’s always an update
or new version for something. It’s my job to try and stay on top of this
information and keep students and faculty informed when they need to make
changes.
What has been the most
enjoyable aspect of your job so far?
Learning. I’ve always enjoyed
learning new things. The challenge of gaining knowledge about a subject
is always fun. Software, equipment, updated information...by learning all
I can, I can then better serve the College of Education.
Tell me what a typical
day at work is like for you.
One of the first things
I do is boot up my computer and check e-mail. I’m lucky to have two excellent
GTAs who are helping with the Distance Ed Studio Classroom (photo).
They’ve made my job easier in transitioning into my role. They can manage
What are some of the
demands of running the studio and streaming media. Have you run into many
difficulties with streaming classes for distance?
Occasionally there’s a student
who is having a problem with watching or accessing their class. And we
try and resolve their problem right away. But we’re not just here to serve
the Distance Ed students. There are many students that attend class on
campus and we can also try and help them with problems they encounter.
I feel my knowledge is useless if I can’t share it with others.
While you were in school,
or since you've graduated, can you describe a project you've worked on
that you've been especially proud of, or that was rewarding to work on?
Working in video production
for the University, you’re usually doing educational projects for the various
colleges on campus. But there are those unique projects that come along
that really excite you. One was documenting the dismantling of the Vulcan
statue in Birmingham. Going up in a crane with a video camera and swinging
around the statue, then videotaping each piece being removed and lowered
to the ground was incredible. They’ve since restored the statue and if
you go in to the museum, you can see bits of footage we shot.
On another project, we were
hired by APT’s
Discovering Alabama to get aerial footage around Alabama. We made a
deal with the State Police to use their helicopter and mount a camera to
the front. I then sat in the front with a controller and monitor in my
lap. I had two joysticks to control the pan/tilt of the camera and we flew
from Montgomery to the Gulf coast, then north to around Birmingham.
What direction would you
like to see your job take? How do you see your role here evolving over
the next few years?
I think as the technology
gets better and cheaper there will be another Distance Education Studio
Classroom created. There will be some changes in equipment and software
and the streaming will get better and better. I hope that faculty and staff
in the College of Education will utilize my expertise in the field of video
production.
dbrowning
November, 2004
