Staff Member is IT’s First Line of Support

Since the campus’s opening in 2005, Rosemary Braden has manned a very important post at UC Merced.

If you have experienced problems with your laptop or desktop computer or network performance issues, you’ve likely spoken to Braden at the IT Help Desk. It is the first place to start if you need any trouble-shooting or technical expertise.

As a senior IT Help Desk consultant, Braden uses her 16 years of computing experience to resolve IT issues for students, faculty and staff.

Before coming to UC Merced, she worked at Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock for seven years, five of which she spent at the community hospital’s IT Help Desk.

Married with two daughters and a son, Braden enjoys playing recreational softball and volleyball. When her daughters were younger, she coached their softball and basketball teams. She is also involved with events and activities in her local community.

Please describe what your job entails. 

Under the direction of the IT User Services manager, our team answers all telephone, email and in-person requests for IT assistance. We help with everything from hardware and software issues to installing operating systems for campus clients.

My role requires that I have advanced knowledge of our campus’s IT Help Desk operations so I can ensure everyone we serve gets the help they need in a timely fashion. I also serve as the back-up for our IDM manager, which gives me the ability to help with username and password creation and resets.

What are some of the most rewarding things about your job?

I love the satisfaction of helping others. I have learned that helping others helps me focus on what is important. I feel like my life is not based on what I have, but what I have to give.

What new initiatives/projects/plans are you looking forward to in the upcoming year?

We are reorganizing, so there will be a lot of changes happening in our department in the coming years. I’m excited and looking forward to the changes. I’m involved in some of the projects that will deliver new tools to the campus community. I am able to provide input, and I like that because it’s different from what I do day to day.

Tell us something about you that people on campus might not know.

Although I work with people day in and day out, I’m very shy. Sometimes people don’t believe it, but I am. When I have to present in a group setting, it makes me really nervous and I often make myself sick just thinking about it.