UIT Leadership Spotlight: Joe Barndt, supervisor, DLT AV Support

Where are you from originally?

I was born in Salt Lake City and have lived here ever since.

What post-secondary degrees or certifications do you have, in what subjects, and from which schools?

In 2024, I graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Music. I plan to return for my master’s soon, but I’ve yet to decide if I’ll continue pursuing music or something else.

What led you to the University of Utah?

I’ve been attending piano competitions at the U since I was a child, and being an SLC resident my entire life made it an obvious choice to come here for school.

Can you describe the path you took to IT leadership?

When I started school, I always knew I wanted a job on campus but would never have expected it to turn into my career. During my freshman year, a friend recommended that I come work in the AV department at UIT as a part-time employee (called Teaching & Learning Technologies back then). We had a small team, but I think that helped me fit in quickly. A little while after I started, the pandemic changed our roles on campus, as it did for everyone. At one point, our team shrank to two people! Despite that, I stayed, thanks largely to the great work environment UIT and Digital Learning Technologies have fostered. Eventually, my supervisor left, and I applied and was selected to fill that position.

How would you describe your leadership style and/or philosophy?

I try my best to create an environment where open communication and collaboration are paramount. Our department utilizes Microsoft Teams extremely well to keep everyone informed, and all our staff know they can reach out to me and my manager when they need help the most. I also place a lot of trust in our staff as I know they’ll get the job done well, but I am always happy to step in and be available for them.

What do you enjoy most about your role at the U?

The part I most enjoy is being able to help the campus community with technology. It’s very rewarding to solve problems and provide support for people from so many different technological backgrounds.

What do you find most challenging about your job?

I find that keeping up with the newest technology around campus, as well as new software processes, can be challenging for me and our staff, but we do our best to stay on top of it. I think that, despite this challenge, we all do an excellent job when we encounter a new problem and definitely feel rewarded when we find an effective solution to it.

What are some of your hobbies?

Playing piano is by far my favorite personal endeavor, as I’ve been doing it for most of my life and often play shows around SLC with my band, Chegoya, and other musicians. I also enjoy 3D design and printing, as well as gaming.

Is there anything else that you think our readers would like to know about you?

Though I’m sure they already know this, I wanted to let our amazing part-time staff, as well as my managers, Peter Hemingway and Adam Stewart, know that they make this job so great. After reflecting on how my life has changed these past six years, I really believe that I wouldn’t be the same person I am now without them all!

 

Node 4 Search