GAA | Workshop Monitor
Overview of duties
Description:
Successful applicant will oversee the use of the SALA Workshop spaces on evenings and weekends, instructing, advising, and supporting student users who will be using the workshop to build architectural models and prototypes as part of their studio/technical course work, individual research, and research for faculty using advanced machinery.
Applied design and interaction with tools are essential elements of architectural research and curriculum. The support from Workshop monitors, including their facilitation of access to the workshop and their expertise and guidance, is a critical part of the research and pedagogical process. The position is one of considerable responsibility. Successful and safe use of all of the tools and machinery including cutting, milling, and surfacing machinery, depends on expert support.
Duties
- Ensure that student users have protective gear and are using the machinery and tools in a safe manner.
- Instruct students in the proper method for using machinery and tools.
- Advise students on the best procedure for achieving desired results, including materials and tool selection. For example, students are often required to create 3D models of their design projects. Many of them may not have ever done so and will need the advice and guidance of the Workshop monitors. The monitors may help them choose among materials including various kinds and thicknesses of wood, acrylic, metals, etc, and then help them choose the best tools and machinery for manipulating these materials.
- Ensure that all students are afforded access and assistance in a fair, equitable way
- Ensure that all feel equally welcome in the workshop
- Ensure that the workshop and adjoining assembly spaces are kept clean and safe
- Make minor adjustments to machinery.
- Supervise tool sign-out.
- Handle material sales using a credit card machine
- Manage scene and contact responders in the case of an emergency.
Workshop monitors will also be asked to work in tandem with Digifab monitors, developing skill-building workshops and learning resources for student and faculty users. Such skill-building workshops are an important component of helping expand SALA’s culture of making. An important component of the Workshop monitor job is to observe how SALA students interact with the shop, identify any physical or shop-cultural barriers to full participation and develop strategies to remove them. The monitors will also model behavior that creates a welcoming and inclusive environment.
Supervision Received:
These positions report to the SALA Workshop Manager. The Monitors will work semi-independently as members of a team, and will need to be able to be able to interact with student and faculty users in a professional manner.
They will be responsible for keeping a record of hours worked and submitting it twice a month to the SALA HR Clerk. This job involves evening and weekend work.
Qualifications
Qualifications:
Education and Experience
- Current or returning UBC Student
- Enrollment in a SALA program an asset
- Graduate Students or upper-level undergraduates
- Experience working in a woodworking shop at a professional level an asset
- Able to demonstrate familiarity and comfort around the machinery
- Able to work evenings and/or weekends
Knowledge, Skills and Ability
- Must have a good working knowledge of the operation of woodworking machinery and tools and be able to teach their safe operation
- Knowledge of metalwork, wood construction, concrete forming, and digital fabrication an asset
- Able to work independently and responsibly
- Must be physically strong enough to carry and work with large pieces of material and large models
- Able to work with workshop users who may be under pressure
- Must be careful, mindful of details, and able to solve problems quickly
- Must have facility with mechanical systems
Course load that ensures availability for all shifts, especially at mid-term and end of term.
Application deadline
How to apply
Please email Graham Entwistle gentwistle@sala.ubc.ca with cover letter outlining your fit for this role, as well as CV.