Steve Faith

Steve Faith

Interview with Steve Faith, Instructional Technologist at Academic Technology Services

Steve Faith, an Instructional Technologist who can be found in 50 Hutchison, has a long history of working in technology and education (he was last interviewed for The Wheel in February 2012) and has kindly offered up his time for faculty to learn more about him and his work.

Describe your job in Academic Technology Services. What services do you provide UC Davis faculty?

I stand at the nexus between technology and teaching. I enjoy helping faculty, staff, and teaching assistants understand various technologies, and how they can be tastefully and effectively integrated into teaching and learning. I especially enjoy when instructors visit or call with a particular teaching goal or idea where we can work together and apply an elegant solution.

What prior work and academic experiences best prepared you for this job?

I have been supporting faculty, staff and students at UC Davis in one capacity or another since 1984. I also worked at Apple Computer as a Systems Engineer in the 90s and 2000s which gave me a great perspective on working as a team and achieving goals.

What are some favorite recent ATS projects?

My first recent favorite is the Video Initiative, a multifaceted project to provide simple and powerful tools to capture, house, organize, and distribute video. Secondly, I love participating in the steering committee that was responsible for selecting the learning management system (LMS) replacement for SmartSite.

Name a challenge or opportunity that you think people in your position will face five years from now.

Education, especially in higher ed, continues to evolve: classes are getting larger, and technology plays a larger role either behind the scenes or visibly in the classroom. It is challenging to stay aware of the many possible tools and solutions that are available to instructors. I think we will see different content delivery paths moving forward with the advancements in VR video, 3D printing, 360° audio, and the continued evolution and integration of mobile devices.

What do you do for fun when not working at ATS?

I play and restore vintage pinball machines and am board president for the Northern California Pinball Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that has donated over $140,000.00 to youth charities since 2011. I also referee youth and adult soccer games.

Under what circumstances should faculty at UC Davis reach out to you?

Any time that an instructor faces a teaching challenge, I would love to hear from them. This often takes the form of, “I would really like to accomplish “X” with my students, but I am not sure how to do that.” Also, if you are struggling with how to use Canvas or need to know what might be the best practice for a situation, let me know.

What is the best way for you to be contacted?

Email works great (faith@ucdavis.edu) as does phone (530-752-1785), but I am often not at my desk to answer. Also, if you email movetocanvas@ucdavis.edu or ithelp@ucdavis.edu, that will generate a service ticket. Just mention in your email that you would like it to be assigned to Steve Faith. Tickets don’t get lost in my email ;-)

Primary Category