When final exams came around this past winter quarter, panic in the Office for Disability Services (ODS) soon followed — until College of Engineering employee Tom Osborn saved the day.
A malfunctioning software program led the Office for Disability Services to believe it would have to turn away First-Year Engineering Program students who wanted to use the office’s Pomerene Hall computer lab during the exams. Osborn, a systems specialist at the College of Engineering, stepped up and created a solution.
Osborn was presented with an Office for Disability Services Special Recognition Award for his quick action. The award was presented to Osborn April 20 at a recognition reception at the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.
When the computer problem arose, Osborn first tried re-installing the necessary Autodesk Inventor software.
“However, that did not work, and time was running out,” Osborn said. He borrowed spare computers at the College of Engineering’s Hitchcock Hall, and he used those to set up the program and get the system running again in time for the students to take their exams.
“Each year we recognize and thank university faculty and staff that exhibit outstanding helpfulness and cooperation to our office and our mission,” said Sean Miller, a counselor and the technology coordinator for the Office for Disability Services.
“Tom responded the same day we contacted him, and he came over and worked for the next several days to help us resolve our software problem,” said Miller. “All the while he exhibited and maintained a very positive, helpful and cooperative demeanor. He displayed a very high level of commitment in going the extra mile to help us resolve the problem.”