When the announcement came that classes at the University of Iowa were moving online, the clock started ticking. An Executive MBA class was slated to take place in just 48 hours. Tippie’s Darrin Thompson stepped up and made it happen.
Thompson is an IT support consultant with the Stead Technology Services Group. Since the crisis began, Thompson and the Stead Tech team have outfitted and checked out dozens of laptops to faculty and staff, and assisted instructors with transitioning to 100 percent virtual instruction.
He’s basically the guy who makes sure this doesn’t happen.
“The most rewarding part of my job during this time has been assisting instructors to bring virtual guest speakers to their classes,” Thompson said. Classroom question and answer sessions he helped facilitate include those with banks, law firms, John Deere, Microsoft, and the Department of Defense.
Thompson said he appreciated the leadership of the college putting the safety of students, faculty, and staff first. Not just physical safety by teaching and working remotely, but also in encouraging psychological safety (such as remembering to log off to avoid burnout).
“I’ll always remember the leadership, faculty, and staff working together under the constraints of the COVID-19 outbreak to finish the 2020 Spring semester,” Thompson said.
While this pandemic has changed the way our classes are delivered, one thing is certain: by working together, we are still providing a world class business education to our students.
Read about more on-campus heroes