Andy Click was honored with the Awards for Excellence, recognizing his work going above-and-beyond to serve students, staff, faculty and the information technology unit. 

Hailing from Durham, NC, Andy Click has been an integral part of the Wilson College since 2016. As our learning technology specialist, he manages and optimizes the technology systems used by professors in every one of their classes.

The Awards for Excellence is the highest university recognition awarded annually to non-faculty, honoring individual employees that go above and beyond to represent and support NC State. 

From addressing minute technical problems to creating new systems connecting alumni to current students, Click’s contributions keep classrooms running smoothly and using the best and newest technology. These quotes are from his nomination letter in the category of Human Relations:

“He navigates high-pressure demands with a constant smile, demonstrating he excels not only at what is asked of him but also at what the community needs to thrive. His “can-do” attitude ensures he never settles for the path of least resistance; he treats every colleague’s challenge as his own personal mission.

“Andy’s generous soul and high-level execution have tangibly improved the well-being of our students, alumni, faculty, and staff. He is a truly exceptional candidate who represents the very best of NC State University.”

Learn more about Click’s work and what he loves about his position at the Wilson College in the Q&A below.

What was your path to this position? 

While I was still a student at NC State, I got a job working at the Office of Information Technology at NC State part-time as a student worker on the main campus help desk. A few years after graduating, I transitioned into a leadership role, which got me noticed by DELTA who were looking for someone to lead the LearnTech help desk — that was my start with learning technology support. After brief stints with the College of Natural Resources and the College of Veterinary Medicine, I joined the Wilson College of Textiles under Shawn Dunning. Having bounced around several units within NC State, the Wilson College has felt the most “at home” to me ever since.

What are your duties on a day-to-day basis?

The two biggest pieces of learning technology on campus are Moodle (soon to be Canvas) and Panopto, and they take up the majority of my usual workday. I help our instructors navigate the sometimes baffling user interfaces of the two systems to do the things they need to do:teach their classes and support their students. 

Occasionally, I get to consult on more complex problems where an instructor has something they’d like to do in their class but don’t know where to begin in terms of technology. Since becoming the accessibility lead for the college, I also get to advise and assist instructors on making all their content more accessible to a wider variety of students so everyone at the college can learn effectively.

What is your favorite part of your job at the Wilson College of Textiles?

The best parts of this job are when I get to make the lives of our instructors just a little bit easier. My mother was a public high school teacher for almost forty years, which gave me a good look at how much extra and often unseen work instructors have to put in, particularly when they’re asked to use new technology on a fairly regular basis. 

Finding the cleanest, least stressful path to making their online classrooms do everything they need so they can get back to the business of teaching the material is the most satisfying feeling at this job.

What do you find most valuable about your work at the Wilson College of Textiles? 

While my work is almost exclusively supporting instructors, I think the real value is in how it improves the learning environment for our students. When I first got into learning technology support, the state of online learning was honestly frightening. Between the technology itself being inadequate to the task and instructors having so much less familiarity with the online and hybrid teaching environment, being a student in an online course was largely a nightmare. 

We’ve come a long way since then and there’s still so much more we can do to make sure students everywhere are able to get access to our incredible instructors and what they have to teach.

What is your favorite memory from your time at the Wilson College of Textiles?

After almost ten years, it’s tough to pick just one, but I’ll never forget the first time I was asked to help set up the livestream for our Emerging Designer’s fashion showcase. Working with instructors on coursework, I get a glimpse into the sort of things our students are doing, but that was the first time I really got to see it all come together for the senior design students. The designs were incredible (they always are), but really it was watching the students adapt so naturally to this professional-grade operation that made clear how much all their work was paying off.

What do you like to do outside of work?

My partner and I were lucky enough years ago to get a house with a large yard, and ever since I’ve been enjoying gardening and learning to landscape to turn it into our beautiful little getaway. Our latest project is building a deck in a shaded area down by the creek so we can enjoy outdoor reading even on hot summer days.