Lights on the Hill is a monthly photo feature highlighting College of Arts & Sciences people who are putting service at the forefront as they help to keep the University going during the COVID-19 pandemic … and beyond.
We celebrate the contributions of three College staff members with the launch of this new feature. Stay tuned for future spotlights on the last Friday of every month.
Photos by Donn Young
Jesse Moorefield, Production Manager, Department of Music
What chief challenge or challenges have you had to overcome in doing your job in the middle of a pandemic?
We have been unable to have musical performances with in-person audiences during this time. Also, our faculty and students who play wind instruments or our vocalists have been unable to rehearse or perform in the same room together. So we decided to get creative and engineer an audio/video pod system that has no latency within our buildings on campus. This allows for musicians to play safely alone in separate rooms without the delay that platforms like Zoom introduce. It’s been a success so far, and we hope to continue to use the technology to host rehearsals and livestream concerts this semester.
Why are you passionate about what you do? What keeps you committed to doing your job in the College?
Music is my No. 1 passion. I can’t imagine a world without live music. It’s been a little quieter around here the last few months, and I can’t wait to manage a live in-person performance one day in the future. In the meantime, we hope the technology we have in place will give students a chance to safely enjoy making music together again. This time has only reinforced my passion and reminded me how important music is to all of us.
***
Melody Hunter-Pillion, Associate Director of Communications and Strategy, Center for the Study of the American South
What chief challenge or challenges have you had to overcome in doing your job in the middle of a pandemic?
One of the chief challenges I had to overcome in performing my job during the pandemic was bringing together and sharing voices in conversation. Storytelling is a central tenant at the center. We gather community members, faculty and students to engage in storytelling and conversations. Amplifying stories and voices that have been silenced is important to our work. Love House presents open doors where those conversations can take place. COVID-19 shut our physical doors, forcing us to find new ways to bring voices together and share stories with our community. We turned a one-day Ida B. Wells symposium into a series of six virtual webinars, increasing our audience reach. We created a podcast for Southern Futures to reach all community members. The challenge made us better, more creative and resourceful.
Why are you passionate about what you do? What keeps you committed to doing your job in the College?
I am passionate about the work I do because I know it makes a difference in the community. It provides people with context to understand and respond to the world around them and issues which impact their lives. It offers ways that empower community members to share their histories, their stories and ways of resiliency. I will be leaving my job in the College to pursue my Ph.D. studies full time at the end of February. I depart even more committed to the power and contributions of scholarship, having worked at CSAS and witnessing the mission in action. My work will continue and will be influenced by my time with UNC and CSAS.
***
Baskin Cooper, IT Support Specialist, Office of Arts & Sciences Information Services (OASIS) and Unit Officer, Coast Guard Auxiliary University Program
What chief challenge or challenges have you had to overcome in doing your job in the middle of a pandemic?
In my work as an IT Specialist, our successful IT service at the College has relied on all our talents and skills at OASIS of “thinking outside the box.” With our hiring freeze, many of us in OASIS have found we had to double up and take on the roles of folks who retired or moved to different careers. Luckily, we have a terrific group of people who not only support the departments of the College of Arts & Sciences, we also support each other. Training our faculty and staff to work remotely has been challenging but, luckily, the College already had a robust infrastructure for remote work in place.
I also serve as the Unit Officer for our campus Coast Guard AUP unit. This program includes boating, public affairs, search-and-rescue and other community activities with the boating public and the Coast Guard. It has been especially difficult to engage in meaningful “hands-on” training and activities. There is only so much practical experience one can get in an online-collaborative format. Also, recruitment has been close to impossible without an in-person presence on campus. Working with our Coast Guard AUP students during the pandemic has given me the opportunity to see how undergraduate students are experiencing a remote college experience. We have been able to greatly improve our ability as a unit to utilize remote tools, including virtual exercises and training, but are really looking forward to putting our uniforms back on and getting out on the water.
Why are you passionate about what you do? What keeps you committed to doing your job in the College?
I love learning new things and, in turn, teaching to others. Being in the IT field means I have to constantly keep on top of new technology. My position with the College gives me the ability to put the things I learn to use immediately for our faculty, staff and students. My role as our Coast Guard AUP Unit Officer is especially rewarding, as mentoring and teaching students gives me the chance to serve UNC in a very unique way that most staff members at UNC never get to experience.
Baskin Cooper was a UNC-Chapel Hill 2020 Governor’s Award for Excellence nominee.