On any given day, Jim Navin delivers thousands of messages.
But, Navin isn’t your typical mailman.
As administrator of UNMC’s Lotus Notes system, Navin supports 4,000 faculty and staff e-mail accounts and almost 3,000 student accounts around the clock. His goal is simple: help UNMC employees communicate electronically.
“E-mail has become everybody’s means of communication,” Navin said. “It’s a more critical component of communication than in the past.”
For his steadfast dedication and outstanding performance in serving UNMC’s e-mail users, Navin has received the Chancellor’s Gold ‘U’ Award for March.
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“Jim is responsible for ensuring that our e-mail system functions reliably,” his nominator said. “E-mail in today business environment is essential for everyday information flow. Jim monitors the Notes server and its performance, keeping it running at peak efficiency.
“Jim also interacts with customers on a frequent basis. He is often called upon to help troubleshoot workstation problems. His ever-helpful attitude and professional knowledge are very much appreciated. Should Jim not have an immediate answer to a problem, you can count on Jim to research the issue. He will then suggest a possible solution, and most importantly, call to see if the problem has been resolved.”
Navin’s workday revolves around supporting UNMC’s Lotus Notes system; upgrading servers, which resemble large storage containers, and applying patches, as necessary; and responding to end-user questions that may come through the ITS Helpdesk or Workstation Support Group.
He analyzes routing issues on the server to understand why a particular e-mail message didn’t get to its destination. He also looks at disk space management since UNMC’s electronic data is backed up daily for disaster recovery purposes. E-mail accounts, particularly large files, take up space on the server, similar to a mailbox stuffed with various sized letters.
Navin also monitors AntiVirus and AntiSpam logs for trends, researches new features and products and works on other e-mail related projects such as password verification and encrypted e-mail solutions.
On any given day, UNMC employees and students receive 45,000 messages from off-campus. Navin said UNMC’s anti-spam software captures up to 19,000 messages daily – almost 50 percent of incoming mail. “Although we capture 80 percent to 90 percent of the spam e-mail sent to UNMC, some things still get through,” he said.
ITS does not log the number of internal messages sent, but UNMC employees and students send up to 25,000 messages off campus daily.
A native of Omaha, Navin joined the UNMC HelpDesk in June 1996 and, one year later, was named assistant e-mail administrator. Shortly after he accepted the job, UNMC’s e-mail administrator left and Navin eventually moved into his position. “I had to learn a lot on the fly,” he said.
Much has changed since then. GroupWise was replaced by Lotus Notes in 1997. Four-megabyte files – once the largest files sent- are now common and e-mail messages are more than simple text files.
Still, Navin says he enjoys the constantly evolving technology associated with supporting UNMC’s e-mail system. “It’s interesting to see how it evolves, where we were compared to where we are now and what to expect in the future,” he said. “It’s an ever-changing environment.”
In the near future, he anticipates seeing fewer wired PCs and more mobile devices that have a greater ability to roam. There also will be increased use of encrypted e-mail.
Outside the office, Navin enjoys golfing, fishing, following his favorite sports teams, and spending time with his wife, Jamie, and their 11-month-old son, Nolan.