Greg Clifford, the classroom technology services manager for the University of Idaho, was named February’s Staff of the Month by the Staff Council.
Clifford said he attended UI from 1981-1986. After finishing school, Clifford said he left the area to pursue a career in broadcast engineering in Texas.
“I was in the broadcast program here, so I took a job down in Amarillo, Texas, as a broadcast engineer,” Clifford said. “Eventually there was a job opening in Idaho Public Television for a field engineering position. I was kind of tired of the rat race, so I decided to come back to Idaho.”
Clifford said he manages a team of classroom support technicians. He said his job sometimes requires a hands-on approach, but being a manager mostly requires him to work behind the desk.
“I do a variety of things here,” Clifford said. “Sometimes it’s administrative, sometimes it’s technical stuff, but this managerial position requires me to spend a lot of time with my desk.”
Clifford was nominated for the award by Barry Willis, the associate dean of outreach. Willis said he nominated Clifford for his work on the Interactive Technology Project, otherwise known as the ITP Initiative.
ITP is a grant-funded initiative to develop next-generation videoconference classrooms outside of the Moscow campus.
“Throughout the process, Greg has remained composed and focused with his efforts recently resulting in two completed and highly appreciated videoconference classrooms, with the third project well underway.”
Willis said Clifford is beyond excellent at what he does, and hopes Clifford will remain at UI for years to come.
“Greg is a committed and knowledgeable professional that supports and leads the University of Idaho in too many ways to mention — in the past, present and hopefully future,” Willis said.
Willis said Clifford and his crew are like the emergency response team for technological equipment.
“His team is like a fire department,” Willis said. “Everyday he provides his team with new challenges, and emergencies.”
Willis said Clifford and his crew have been involved from day one, offering advice and guidance to all who will listen.
Clifford said he loves what he does, and everybody he works with. He said even though he received the award, he attributes it to the hard work of his entire crew.
“I love the people I work with here — they are what makes up what happens behind the scenes,” Clifford said. “We’re a really collaborative team. I may be the coach, or the quarterback, but it’s the team that gets everything down the field and makes the touchdown.”
Andrew Ward can be reached at [email protected]