Q & A: Jim Sherry, new director of housing

Name: James "Jim" Sherry Title: Director of Housing, Facilities Management Department: Student Development and University Housing Time at USC: Started March 25 Q. Welcome to USC. Where did you work before coming here? A. Pittsburgh. Actually, I’ve lived in Pittsburgh all my life. I’ve been a facilities manager for 30 years now. I spent 10 years or so in industry and corporate facilities, 20 years in higher education. This is my first time being strictly part of housing. Q. How do the facilities goals of corporations differ from those of a university? A. In higher education, we are concerned primarily about serving the students’ needs, while the corporate world is more profit-centered. Q. Is your educational background in engineering? A. I have a bachelor’s in electrical engineering and technology from Point Park University. I also have an MA degree in leadership from Duquesne University, and I’m working towards an MBA in finance, also at Duquesne. Q. What are your duties at USC? A. Housekeeping, maintenance, projects, renovations and new construction for the Housing Department are my primary areas of responsibility. The job is a good mix of time spent out in the field and in the office. I work very closely with the Residence Life Program, which is part of Housing. Residence Life cares for all our students who live on campus, makes sure the students’ needs are met, that items are repaired in their rooms, and that they have a nice facility to live and learn in. At USC we have a group of campus partners for facilities that has responsibility for the entire university. I have a responsibility just for housing and play a support role to the group. Q. What do you foresee being the greatest challenge in your new job? A. The biggest challenge so far has been trying to complete projects in a timely manner. Getting all of the projects done within a short time frame while balancing conferencing and other important events at the University is very challenging. Q. What are you enjoying the most? A. How warm and friendly and welcoming everyone here has been to me. They have made the transition very comfortable. Q. How do you spend your free time? A. I like to golf but do it badly. I also enjoy spending time with family and friends. I’m married—my wife’s name is Alice—and have two adult sons, one who lives in Washington, DC, and one back in Pittsburgh. Q. One last but very important question: are you ready for your first Columbia summer? A. Everyone has been warning me about that. But you don’t have to shovel sunshine. So as long as it’s not snow, I’m great with it. 4/04