WSA Profile: Carl Bachor Jr., IT Chair

Photo courtesy of Carl Bachor Jr.

Meet Carl Bachor Jr., the Information Technology Chair for WSA. Born and raised in Dearborn Mich., Bachor worked for Michigan Computer Systems during high school as a consultant.

“It is really where my IT career began,” he said.

Last summer, he interned for MTU Detroit Diesel. It was there that he became interested in SAP software, which is used to coordinate information and recourses for an entire corporation.

The following fall, Bachor became a remote consultant for MTUDD. This summer, he is in Chicago working at an internship for PepsiCo. in downtown Chicago.

A junior at Western Michigan University, Bachor studies computer information systems.

Western Herald: How did you get involved with WSA?

Carl Bachor: This is my first campus outgoing type job -I have never really been a student organization kind of guy – never felt anything was tailored for me – not in my niche. The reason this job came about was that an e-mail came up through the CIS department  that said “hey, we’re looking for an IT chair person for the WSA.” That instantly appealed to me. I felt like it would be a perfect position for me because I can communicate between a technical person and a non-technical person. When you are a consultant, non-techie guys say “we want to make this better,” “we want to implement this,” and the consultants, the ‘nerds’ if you will, make it happen. As I said, this is my first Western orientated type of thing, I had always been career focused, but when I saw this I thought I could make a difference here and bring the knowledge I’ve accumulated over the last six years in the IT environment and provide the best service I can.

Western Herald: What’s the role of the IT chair?

Carl Bachor: The IT chairperson’s job on paper is a pretty broad assignment. When I originally applied for the position, it said that the IT chairperson is responsible for updating the website and taking care of IT issues between students, the faculty, and WSA – so an intermediary consultant. I really feel like it is a lot more [broad] than that. I’m going to make it broader; it didn’t seem enough of a challenge for me.. My vision is that I am the go-to-guy to bounce ideas off of. Say person a wants this new type of Web site, this new e-mail system–any type of IT related thing. We can hammer out the Proof of Concept – how do you want this to work out? Then I can present it in a manner both parties can understand. The easiest way to put it is that I want to be a helper for IT related stuff, so I can bounce between the people.

Western Herald: What do you want to do as IT chair?

Carl Bachor: I can’t say specifically yet–I haven’t been enrolled in the position yet–but I’ve done some preliminary research, talked to the old IT guy [Joe Harder]. So what my plans are, easily put, is to make a proactive IT change at Western. Push more. Our generation is the digital generation, we’re on our “Crackberries,” iPods, all the time. My high level goal is to make Western more friendly in that respect. So let’s say you have a class canceled, you get a text message that says class has been canceled. Simple stuff like that, that you and I would think of off the tops of out heads but never think about implementing. Embracing the technology. You’re recording on a digital device right now. You got a cellphone in your pocket, an iPod –

Western Herald: On a standard day I have an iPod, digital voice recorder, MacBook Pro, and a Kindle.

Carl Bachor: See, you’re always connected. That’s the thing about our generation. We want Western to make a connected impact. We want to have a more technology based education.

Western Herald: So you’re going to update the WSA Web site?

Carl Bachor: The job does [have] busy work, update the Web site. That’s not why I moved into this position. I moved into this position so I could communicate between the students and the people who need to hear it. Joe Smith, your average freshman who can’t get this computer related thing to work for some reason, he’s not going to go to OIT and say “dude, this thing doesn’t work.” I’ll be that messenger – I understand the difference and can go to OIT and give them details in technical terms.

Also I will provide IT knowledge to all the other Registered Student Organizations.  I was talking to some of the Rugby guys last night and they said “hey – we would like to have this type of Web site” and “what do you think about this technology idea for us.” They want to have something on their Web site to keep track of the scores. That’s where IT really comes into play. I’m not a go/no-go kind of guy, where I make all the decisions, but I clarify it – decide what we want to do and present it. That’s where my IT experience will come into play.

Western Herald: What role do you think WSA has on campus?

Carl Bachor: That’s interesting that you asked that, because for the last two years I didn’t know WSA existed. I hope the WSA, which I’m sure they are now, will be known more publicly. I hope that there will be  an area for students to come with an idea or concept, where we can collaborate – I’d say like a glorified psychiatrist – somebody you can come to and say “hey, we want to do this,” or “hey, we’re having a problem with that,” or “hey, what do you think of this?” We’re here for the students, to help them out during their time at Western. The biggest thing I would personally stress is to let people know what WSA is and what they do.

Western Herald: What do you think you will add to cabinet?

Carl Bachor: Like I said, I have never fit that cookie-cutter-mold of a student. I have an aggressiveness to get things done – not take ‘no’ for an answer. That’s what I told Nate [Knappen, WSA president]. I am an aggressive kind of guy, and I just go and go and go. There is not a lot of feelings for me…: there is task, get it done. I hope to bring that and my years of IT skills. I hope to bring an aggressive work ethic. Not that they aren’t aggressive now, but rather than being very floaty, if you will.

Western Herald: How do you see technology’s role in letting students know about WSA?

Carl Bachor: I think that technology will play a strong role – I don’t think it will be web-based, I think people will learn about WSA by the things that we do. Because you and I could spend all day designing Web sites and making t-shirts and singing songs, but at the end of the day people are going to remember you for what you did. So basically, if WSA came out with this cool new text messaging system when class gets cancelled, then people will know what WSA did. Then that will be a lead in – what else have they done? What else can they do?  I’m hoping that- included with all the PR that we do – we can come up with something that we can brand and put our name on, have an official lure, do something awesome that goes over well. What else can WSA do for us?

Like I said before, I didn’t know what WSA was until six months ago. When I look at it as an outsider, first as a student, you see the Student Assessment Fee: that’s the only thing I related to WSA, and it is a negative thing. Yeah, it gives us extra spending money,  what dose the average student have to show for it? I want students to be able to say that the Student Assessment Fee was worth it. So I am looking to the rest of the WSA veterans to come up with something really cool and usable. My personal goal is to go up to a random person on campus and ask them about WSA and they said “yeah, they did this,” and have it be something positive.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=6902

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Jul 27 2009. Filed under Breaking, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com