Have you met Don, Print Production Assistant with Campus Design and Print Solutions? Spend a few minutes getting to know him a little better.
What was the first or most important piece of your home office set up?
It has to be the chair. Fortuitously, we updated the computer system at home in January; I don’t think it would have survived this many hours otherwise. But I wouldn’t survive without the chair.
Tablet or paper?
I’m a paper guy. I’ve got a long history in the print industry — I’d like to say that’s not a bias, but… for me, quick notes on paper are the way to go.
What’s something you’ve done to help make the shift to working remotely easier?
We’re computer-based in the print shop, but in a production environment you’re up and down out of the chair constantly. For me it’s really important to stand up, and get out of the chair. Even just going out on the deck for a few minutes makes a difference.
What’s one thing you can’t live without?
I don’t know that there is something. I’ve traveled a lot, and you realize that you can live with very little, and be very adaptable if necessary… but going without email would be pretty disruptive.
What’s your favourite lunch or snack to enjoy while working from home?
I’ll go with chocolate covered almonds — there’s a bag sitting beside the computer. It’s my own personal battle every day to only have a few.
If you won airfare to anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Antarctica. I know you can’t fly there, but, you know: Venezuela and then boat across. It’s the one continent that I haven’t been to, and it seems uniquely undisturbed by human presence.
You can invite anyone — alive or dead, real or fictional — to dinner. Who would it be?
My gut just says my wife. Maybe that’s not taking advantage of the full spectrum of the question — but that’s who it would be.
If you could switch jobs with someone on campus, what would you do?
There’s so many cool things that happen on campus… I could spend a day in the Engineering makerspace. That’s probably where I would go. Their fabrication shop would be fantastic.
What does “uplifting the whole people” mean to you?
It means promoting everybody’s ability to keep stepping forward, to continue to improve what they’re doing in a positive way. It means supporting each other, trying to bring out the best in our coworkers and in the university environment as a whole.
What 3 words best describe your U of A experience?
Interesting. Fast-paced. Dynamic.
About Don Murray
I have been with the University since November 2017 in the roll of Print Production Assistant with Campus Design and Print Solutions. After spending over 25 years in the commercial offset print industry, I found CDPS to be a unique environment where I am able to meet many different people on campus from many different areas and faculties. I enjoy helping people take their creative projects from an idea that has been sketched on paper — or something they’ve mulled over in their thoughts for a long period of time — to an exciting end product we can both be proud of. My hobbies include hiking, skiing and travelling. I have traveled to over 25 different countries, enjoying the culture, atmosphere and food.