This month, the Office of Information Technology is celebrating Jabari Garmon, IT Service Desk Level 2. Jabari works in the Fordham IT Client Services department and has been with Fordham for 5 years. Throughout his time at Fordham, he has worked on many interesting projects and developed both professionally and personally. To honor Jabari’s contributions we are sharing a little about his story.
How long have you been employed at Fordham, and what roles have you held?
Well, I’ve been with Fordham for about 5 years…2 and a half years as a contractor, 2 and a half years as an employee. I’m from Miami, Florida and lived in Baltimore, Maryland…so the amount of years I’ve worked in Fordham, is the same amount that I’ve been in NY. This is my first and only job residing in NY. Now, you may question “why are you in NY?”. And my response would be, “if you know, you know.” LOL
What’s the day-to-day of your role like?
I manage our Service Desk Level 2 group. For instance, if any issues cannot be resolved by our first level of contact, whether it’ll be an email, phone call or any form of escalation, those would be triaged to our Level 2 group who will handle it from there. Also, myself, along with my colleague, Hamlet Hernandez, and my boss, Joe DiBartolo, would partake in any projects, escalations or testing that requires our assistance. In addition, outside of business hours, we handle any issues/escalations that arrive.
What is your proudest accomplishment in IT and/or life in general?
My proudest accomplishment in IT lately is observing our team members improving year after year. We’ve put a lot of effort and time into ensuring our staff has the necessary resources and knowledge to excel. Honestly, we can say that our team reached new heights this year, and we will continue to ascend to the stars. I am nothing without the Service Desk squad who deals with any random inquiry or issue thrown to their direction. Big shoutout to Tiana Ortiz, Ken Alvarado, Richard Dixon and Marco Quezada for setting the standard.
When you are not working, what are some passion projects/hobbies/activities that you’re involved in?
Sleeping! We do so much here in Fordham IT that rest doesn’t come so often. I sleep every single chance I get. I’m also into sports, particularly basketball. I’ll get a few games in when there’s downtime. Lastly, I’ve been doing this ancestry project trying to find my ancestors, who are descendants of slavery, and read up on what they’ve accomplished.
How have you grown professionally while on our team?
If I’m honest, before obtaining this leadership position, I never had a leadership role in my life. No management experience. These past 2 ½ years, I’ve observed from Joe DiBartolo and Hamlet Hernandez on how to lead and I’ve been applying it ever since. Especially from Joe DiBartolo, who doesn’t receive enough credit for the improvement of the Service Desk, compared to where it was 5 years ago. Joe took a chance on me with this position, and even brought me on as a contractor, and I’ll never forget it.
One last thing too, observing how Clara Perdiz, our Executive Director of Client Services, accomplishes everything thrown at her, and also trusts me to complete a task or project, is greatly appreciated. Same goes to Stephen Buckley, who I was able to learn from ever since my first day in Fordham.
So yes, the inspiration from the folks that I’ve mentioned, is the reason why I’m great today.
What is the most unique part about working at Fordham?
The most unique part about working at Fordham is the family environment that’s established from your colleagues in any department. We can be honest and admit that the workload can be overwhelming. However, it’s nice when you’re sitting in your office and someone from Career Services would talk to you, or someone from the Dean of Students would just stop by with candy to share. Everyone looks out for each other…something that I wasn’t experiencing with my last job.
What is something fun or interesting that not many people know about you?
What people may not know about me is that I was a Bailiff in Miami, Florida for 5 years. It was very interesting. It’s nothing like being in a courtroom where either you’re witnessing a homicide case and someone being sued. Now when I was in family court, although it’s not fun and I don’t condone toxicity involving children, it felt like being on Jerry Springer or Maury. And that’s all I’ll say.
This interview was conducted as part of the Office of Information Technology’s SpotlITe series, in which we highlight staff members who have meaningfully contributed to IT, Fordham, and beyond.