Lawrence E. Folland
lfolland@uwaterloo.ca · 226-218-1822
https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/~lfolland/
Skills & Competencies
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Leadership
- Manager of a highly effective client support group
- President of the UW Staff Association of 2,500 employees
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Staff Development and Training
- Encourages staff to take training and Professional Development
- Member of the Professional Development Advisory Group
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Mentoring and Coaching
- Developed our co-op hiring regimen
- Mentored one of our co-ops from high school up to working for UW IT (IQC)
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Communications
- Strong contributor to our group documentation systems
- Crafts communiques to be delivered to our entire client base
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Collaboration and inter-personal networking
- Member of several campus-wide committees, including the IT Strategic Task Force
- Strong connections with most on-campus IT support groups
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University Culture
- Highly familiar with the University “Culture”, the people, the history and the traditions
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Project oversight
- Responsible for multiple large research computing projects totaling over $3M
- Create RFPs, review, select and provide justification for final purchase decisions
- Responsible for multiple large library system installation and data migrations
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Consulting
- Work with clients to determine needs, tailor services and implementation to meet requirements
- Provide technical consultation on grant proposals
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Vendor Relations
- Meet regularly with key vendors to maintain relationships and product awareness
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Technical Skills
- Unix/Linux Systems Administration and troubleshooting
- Networking and communications
- Technical User Support - Hardware and Software
- Windows Administration
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Public Speaking
- Delivered hundreds of training sessions on application software
- Development of training materials and programs
- Experienced Software Sales and Marketing at trade shows and client demos
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Software Development
- Developed internationally known data conversion tool “The Data Magician”
- Created end user manual for that software
Experience
University of Waterloo
| 200 University Ave., Waterloo, ON
Manager, Research Support, June 2003 – June 2022
I lead a team of technical staff to support Faculty and Graduate student computing within the School of Computer Science. Our group is part of the Computer Science Computing Facility (CSCF). We support workstations, laptops, servers and clusters running Linux, Windows and MacOS. We provide system administration, installation, hardware service, purchasing and grant support for any kind of computing equipment our clients use. In the past year, I have assisted in the purchase and installation of over $3M in research computing equipment.
As part of the management team, I help to set directions and priorities for the group, establish the budget, conduct performance management, encourage staff development and training.
I am involved in many areas outside my immediate responsibilities, having served on the following committees:
- PDAG – Professional Development Advisory Group
- FACCUS - Faculty Computing User Support committee
- UW IT Strategic Task Force
- School of Computer Science Commons Committee (Community building)
- CSCF Strategic Plan
- Computer Science Director search committee
- UW Computer Museum (co-founder)
epixtech, inc./Dynix Inc.
| 1 Blue Springs Drive, Waterloo, ON
Trainer/ Programmer/ UNIX Specialist/ Systems Analyst/ Team Leader, May 1991 – May 2003
I began at Dynix as a trainer and troubleshooter of the basic Dynix library system software on the installation team. Shortly after, I moved into system installation and providing database (PICK/uniVerse) and operating system support on a variety of UNIX-based platforms (AIX, HP-UX, Solaris, SCO, Mips, DEC, Linux) as well as Windows platforms (98, NT, 2000, XP). I supported a diverse range of products and issues, including operating system problems, database operation, terminals, PCs, printers, word processors, and other general problem solving issues. I worked as a Team Leader, managing a staff of 12 along with a second Team Leader. Later, I moved back into a pure systems support role, working with both our external customers and internal staff, providing support on servers, networking, communications, videoconferencing, desktop applications and any other technical issues that arose.
Education
UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH
1984 Honours Bachelor of Science, Psychology/Computer Science
- Graduated with Honours
Continuing Education (Highlights)
- 2013 Workplace Investigations / Policy 33 (Ethical Behaviour)
- 2012 Leading People to Effectiveness (CEL)
- 2011 Workplace Violence - Supervisors -- SO1083
- 2010 LISA 2010 - Security for System Administrators (SANS course), IPv6, Nagios, Network Services, Linux Firewalls, Group Time Management, Rethinking passwords, Legal issues in Cloud Computing
- 2009 IBM BladeCentre Management
- 2005 High Performance Computing with SGI
- 2004 How to Excel at Managing and Supervising People (SkillPath)
- 2002 Crystal Reports (Toronto Public Library, Toronto)
- 1996 Exceeding Customer Expectations (Waterloo Management Education Centre)
- 1995 Brass Tacks Supervision (Waterloo Management Education Centre)
- 1994 Facilitator Skills for Team Leaders (Waterloo Management Education Centre)
- Plus various technical courses on topics such as: AIX, HP-UX, PictureTel Videoconferencing systems, Lotus Notes, Administering Windows NT, Advanced SQL, Advanced Visual Basic, Networking Fundamentals, and others over my career
Volunteer Work
University of Waterloo Staff Association
| 200 University Ave., Waterloo, ON
Director, October 2012 – present
As a member of the Board of Directors, I participate in a number of committees:
- Provost’s Advisory Committee on Staff Compensation (PACSC)
- Staff Relations Committee (SRC)
- UWSA Pension & Benefits and Staff Compensation sub-committee (former Chair)
- Communication and Membership (UWSA sub-committee)
- Fundraising & Social Committee (UWSA sub-committee - Chair)
Hamilton Bay Sailing Club | Hamilton, ON
Director, October 2013 – present
As a member of the Board of Directors, I assist in the day-to-day management of a busy community sailing club, including allocation of funds for the purchases of new boats, determining insurance needs for our members, planning events, reviewing policy.
