DoIT’s Audio Visual (AV) Services provides the UMBC campus with a wide variety of media resource support for instruction and administration. Typical duties include lending laptops to instructors, setting up projectors in rooms that have issues, and answering phone calls from faculty when they are having problems with AV equipment during class.  

Ally Yang, a Biological Sciences major, first heard about AV Services through a post on campus. Yang learned a lot but also appreciated the amount of support AV services provided her. “The full time staff in the office are just amazing,” said Yang. “They are so understanding and supportive of everything [like] your education, and I could not have had a better experience.” 

Adam Jawarish, Information Systems major, recalls his first day working in AV as fun. He walked around campus looking at the systems in classrooms and lecture halls and was shown a few common troubleshooting techniques he could use. Originally, when dealing with the amount of help requests coming in, it was a bit overwhelming for him. “After some time and learning, there was not anything that really threw me off.” said Jawarish. 

Steven Nguyen, an Information Systems major, remembers touring the different lecture halls on his first day, learning the optimal pathways to travel and familiarizing himself with the AV interfaces. Nguyen also mentioned some of the pressure that comes with the job in terms of solving the issue, but thinks it’s good pressure since it teaches students how to respond quickly and more effectively. “There are certain steps we are taught to take that can solve just about any little issue.” said Nguyen.

The three offered some insight on what you will takeaway as a DoIT student worker. “There is plenty of value in working at DoIT, it looks good on your resume and you gain experience that you wouldn't gain at other on campus jobs.” said Jawarish. 

Yang mentions the behind the scenes work in terms of audio and visual and how you will learn a lot more than you think. When something doesn't work, it’s not magically fixed and AV has to fix it. “Our full staffs work really hard and go into these lecture halls and classrooms when there isn't a class and make sure that everything is working.” said Yang.

“You learn how to ask questions, get meaningful answers, make some mistakes, and fix even more.” said Nguyen. “Learning how to think this way is something you can take with you for the rest of your life.” 

In the Information Technology and Engineering Building (ITE), room 325B was just a simple conference room. Equipped with just a projector and a single VGA cable for input, the connectivity options were severely limited. A tall audio visual (AV) rack in the corner of the room housed all sorts of outdated inputs, from VHS to DVD. The room was just not equipped to match the technological needs of today, but AV services changed all that by working with the CSEE department to meet their needs.

Jack Malone, lead technician for DoIT’s AV Services is no stranger to the process of upgrading rooms. His job involves speccing equipment, finding resources, and even installing these upgrades into the rooms. Malone knows what works best with varying rooms, such as ITE 325B. “After over 125 installs, what works best is second nature.” said Malone. “Rooms, for the most part, organize themselves. In this case [for ITE 325B], and rooms like it, our decision is already made as to where to locate our equipment.” 

Once determining where the new equipment is going to go, it’s just a matter of what the room needs. Malone doesn't work alone in figuring out what a room needs, and instead collaborates with another AV Specialist named Danielle Brown.

Before AV Services stepped in, the room was just equipped with a dim projector along with a VGA input. Now, the room features a 90 inch HD television with easily accessible HDMI input, allowing for bright and crisp presentations. Older devices that connect to the TV have their signal upscaled thanks to a newly built in scaler, which helps with image clarity.