Robert Morse
For more than six months, Robert Morse, an applications developer, has been efficiently meeting technical needs with his savvy online programs.
Originally from Modesto, Morse came to Los Angeles in 2003 to pursue computer engineering and computer science at USC. After graduating last May, he decided to keep his skills in the Trojan Family, joining the Student Affairs Information Technology (SAIT) department's team of Web programmers last fall.
Since then, Morse has made significant contributions to the department. When Kelly Nelson, chair of the Graduate Student Experience Committee, asked SAIT to update Gradjobs, the program's online application system, Morse took the lead on the project and built an instantly successful program.
"Robert created a fabulous Web site from scratch," Nelson says. "It has saved me anywhere from 10 to 15 hours a week."
When early bugs popped up, Morse was quick to troubleshoot them, and actually contacted candidates to work out their glitches. "He helped with just about anything and everything. He made the whole process so easy," says Nelson, who also notes that it was not unusual to receive an email back from the programmer at 11 p.m. or on a Saturday morning. "He was always there," she says." And he never once said 'no.' He said, 'Sure, we can do that.'"
Morse's work paid off -- this year, the Gradjobs program saw more applicants than ever before.
Morse, however, is modest about the site's success. "It was a pretty sizable project, so I was happy to see it work out," he says. "It surprises me how impressed people are."
With a long queue of applications waiting to be developed, Morse can probably look forward to more compliments. Up next is a Student Affairs online mentoring project that will pair up students, faculty and staff. Web site redesigns are also in the works for the Office of International Services, the Office for Residential Education and the Center for Academic Support.
Morse, who hopes to pursue higher education at USC, will continue streamlining everything he can for Student Affairs. "It's almost astonishing how much is still on paper with everything that can be done (on the Web)," he says. "There's a big demand to do everything online." Luckily, USC has people like Morse who go above and beyond to meet that demand.