A high-tech setup tucked two stories below household distractions has earned Husker Home Office of the Week honors for Carl Yuan.

The assistant director of data systems for the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, Yuan has a home workspace that features four separate PCs running simultaneously to ensure there are no interruptions in case of a crash. The redundant system is for more than just work.

“As a hobby, I program and operate my own radio stations — the music library is housed next to my office,” Yuan said.

Courtesy

Carl Yuan's home office also doubles as a studio as he programs and operates his own radio stations as a hobby.

Yuan has worked on campus for more than four years for Academic Services and Enrollment Management and Scholarships and Financial Aid.

The Husker Home Office of the Week award was launched April 10 to showcase how faculty and staff have adjusted to working from home as part of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s response to COVID-19.

The award repeats weekly until employees return to widespread working from offices on campus. Details on how to enter are below.

Here are Yuan’s responses to how working from home is progressing and a few tips for other faculty and staff to consider.

Why does this space work for you?

My office is tucked in the basement of our house with two stories above, so I am away from my kids and all the activities above. There is a walkout patio and a window looking out to our backyards and fields. At my desk, there are four separate PCs running simultaneously so if one hangs up or crashes, there are no interruptions. We pay for two ISPs — the primary one is a 1GB fiber optic network, with a second 100MB cable broadband network for backup and load balancing purposes. I also teach online classes for other universities part-time, thus the microphones and the eight-channel mixer.

What tips for a successful work-from-home day do you have for fellow employees?

I have a daily routine and a to-do list that I work off of when I was in the office, and it’s the same working from home. I make a point to demonstrate to my supervisor that I am more responsive working from home than in the office. Email and text responses are usually spontaneous. My supervisor and I have a standing weekly meeting since I began working at the university in 2015 where I provide a weekly agenda/activity report to go over my progress with various projects and she could make notes.

What is your favorite item in the home office space?

It’s a toss-up between the clip-on phone mount with a ring of light that runs on USB, which works excellent in my home office set up because I use an old iPhone as my PC webcam, and my Samson C01UPRO USB microphone — the one attached to the boom.

To be considered for the honor, submit photos of your custom space via email to tfedderson@unl.edu along with answers to the the questions below. The award winner will be notified on each Thursday, with their space appearing in the Friday edition of Nebraska Today. For more information, send email to tfedderson@unl.edu.

Entries for the “Husker Home Office of the Week” must include your name, university position, home department, phone number (for contact, if necessary), years employed on campus, home address (to mail the award), and answers to at least three of these five questions:

- Why does this space work for you?

- What tips for a successful work-from-home day do you have for fellow employees?

- What is your favorite item in the home office space?

- What do you miss most about your campus space?

- Is there any process/concept/idea that you’ve experienced working from home that you hope to integrate when we return to campus?