In this week’s Friday Five interview, we talk to project manager Dan Cohen from Enterprise Process Support. In addition to his role as a project manager, Dan teaches in the iSchool and is active in the Syracuse University veterans community.
1. Tell us about what you do for ITS and how long you have been with Syracuse University?
I’ve been with the University since the summer of 2011. Since 2016, I’ve been a project manager for ITS in the Enterprise Process Support group. In this role, I have the opportunity to help teams solve functional problems with technology solutions and prepare the University for the technological paradigm shifts of the Information Age. Project management can mean a lot of things, but at its heart, my role involves making sure we understand the problem(s) we are trying to solve with technology (defining requirements) and facilitating the planning, execution, and control of any agreed-upon solutions’ implementation to stakeholders’ satisfaction.
2. What have you learned in your role with ITS?
In my role at ITS, I have learned that with every passing day our lives become more dependent on the interconnectedness of many and varied technologies. This growing understanding has placed in me a deep appreciation and respect for the technologists of the University community. In most cases, they have spent the better parts of their lives learning how to do hard, complicated things that most of us cannot (and would not want to) do for ourselves. The technologists around campus enable the University community to change with the changing world, and thus continue to deliver on its mission to promote learning through teaching, research, scholarship, creative accomplishment and service.
3. What has inspired you or made you hopeful since COVID-19 and the increasing global momentum toward social justice?
I am continually encouraged by how well (though often grudgingly) the regional community has adapted to the many measures implemented to mitigate against the spread of COVID-19 and the grace most have shown each other. I am inspired by the tireless work the entire University community has done to prepare for the Fall semester; I have not seen people work so hard since I left the Army a million years ago. I am further inspired that even in these uncertain and unmanageably busy days, recent tragic race-motivated crimes have moved many individuals to participate in the hard dialogue that is ongoing around social justice. I am hopeful that this dialogue will stir many of us to recognize the need to look inward for opportunities to challenge our own perspectives before challenging others’.
4. What are you looking forward to next semester at Syracuse University?
In addition to my role as a project manager within ITS, I teach a section of IST345 Managing Information Systems Projects at the iSchool every semester. I’m looking forward to the privilege of teaching my craft to students. My role as a part-time instructor also gives me the unique opportunity to experience the impact of the hard work the technology community has done to prepare for the semester, and that is also a privilege.
5. Best part of your summer?
My family and I have been finding trails to hike and other regional outdoor destinations to explore over the weekends. It’s been awesome checking out these parks in New York that I didn’t even know existed six months ago. Also, the restrictions on in-person social engagements has had the unexpected result of a group of friends and I starting to play D&D on Friday nights remotely. At 40, this is not something I would have normally considered taking on, but now every week I’m playing games with dear friends separated by geography whom I saw less than once a year in the old-normal.