Troubleshooting Technology

Profile: Sylvia Barrett, ALB '95

Insightful. Thorough. Customer-oriented. Skillful. Articulate. These are just some of the adjectives that describe Sylvia Barrett, ALB '95, the energetic woman who helps Harvard Extension School instructors and students solve a myriad of computer-related problems from her Science Center office. During this recent 30-minute interview at her office, Barrett calmly addressed questions involving computer account activation, modem access via Internet service providers, software incompatibilities, and laser-printing difficulties, while carrying on a detailed and coherent live conversation concerning local-area network connections, not to mention the interview.

Sylvia Barrett, DCE Computer Support Coordinator for HASCS, and Tara Sharon Cole, Heath Careers Program

Barrett, who was born in Inchon, South Korea, and came to the United States with her parents when she was three years old, accurately describes herself as the central troubleshooter for those who are wrestling with the increasing use of information technologies in Harvard Extension School courses. With computer hardware and software systems becoming so pervasive, Barrett finds herself working not only with students and faculty, but also interacting daily with the various functional units of Harvard's Division of Continuing Education (for example, the Registrar's Office and MIS department), as well as with diverse groups within the Harvard Arts and Sciences Computing Services (HASCS).

"Looking back over the past three years, I would say Sylvia Barrett has been the most significant factor in terms of our being able to expand computing services to Harvard Extension and Summer School students and faculty," said Henry Leitner, Director of Academic Computing for Continuing Education and Senior Lecturer on Computer Science. "With Sylvia, there is at last 'one stop shopping' in terms of getting computer problems quickly resolved. Prior to Sylvia we often had situations in which a student would end up having to talk to three or four technical or administrative people at the Science Center and at 51 Brattle Street before getting a computer account issue rectified. She also has done a splendid job participating in a number of important projects, such as creating and maintaining a satellite computer lab for Harvard DCE students at the Science Center and organizing a plan to connect residential Harvard Summer School students to Harvard's high-speed data network. Sylvia even found time to work as a teaching fellow in a couple of Harvard Extension School computer science courses and to help me out in a research project."

Acknowledging her successes with characteristic modesty, Barrett gives partial credit to her stint in the ALB Program at the Extension School. "Having been a Harvard Extension School student so recently has made it very easy for me to empathize with our adult students!" declared Sylvia. "It took me more than a decade to finish up my undergraduate degree.

I started off at MIT in the late 1970s as a full-time concentrator in aeronautical and astronomical engineering, but I was bitten by the computer bug once personal computers started to become popular. That's one reason why I left MIT after completing my sophomore year and launched a computer consulting business, CESS (Computer and Electronic Supply Services), with a fellow student." CESS was located in Kendall Square, just down the road from MIT, and offered complete hardware and software solutions for business users. After ten years of working at CESS, and consulting for an agency of the federal government, Barrett decided it was time to finish her degree. She resumed her studies at the Extension School in 1991 and completed her ALB degree four years later.

Shortly after graduation Barrett spent three months with her extended family in Korea (the first time she has been back there) before returning to the US where she worked for Microsystems, a local high-tech company located in Melrose. Just two months later, Dr. Leitner, who had served as Sylvia's academic advisor, brought her back to Harvard where she took on her current position as Continuing Education Computer Support Coordinator for HASCS.