UMC Alum Chad Palm '00
Manages the Technology That Serves the City

When Chad Palm was 16, he bought a Commodore 64 for five dollars at a garage sale.  What he didn’t know then was that this small investment would change his life.  He looked at the already outdated computer as a challenging puzzle to solve; this puzzle led him to UMC, and eventually to his career as information technology (IT) director for the City of Crookston.

As a high school student at Crookston High, Palm elected to take part in the Minnesota Post Secondary Enrollment Option program at UMC.  By his sophomore year at UMC, he had an internship with the Red River Trade Council under Professor Bruce Brorson.  “We’d pack fifty or sixty laptops, go to Redwood Falls, and demonstrate website development and e-commerce.  This was a great experience.”  Eventually, Palm earned an internship with Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI) in the Twin Cities, and through this and several other opportunities at UMC, he gained valuable hands-on experience.  “I immersed myself in the industry and discovered responsibilities and expectations of the workplace.  This hands-on office environment provided priceless opportunity.”

Opportunity was what Palm needed upon his graduation from UMC in winter 2000.  Growing up in Crookston, Palm felt a lot of loyalty to small communities, but he was sure as an INM (information networking management) major he would have to move to a major metro area to find work.  This was not what he dreamed of doing.  “I wanted to help small communities achieve levels of technology already available in these big cities.” 

Palm’s first position out of college was rather unexpected, however.  Crookston High School needed an IT and business applications instructor, and despite Palm’s lack of a teaching degree, Principal Allen Zenor utilized the Community Expert License (which allows non-teaching degree holding community members a one year license to teach in their area of expertise) to bring Palm on board.  At first he was nervous, having never been in front of his own classroom before.  “UMC prepared me well, though,” Palm said.  “I taught my courses while remembering all my lessons from UMC.  Working at the Computer Help Desk helped me know how to teach, as did the collaborative teaching used on campus.”

Palm worked with high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors as well as K-3 students.  Working with the first and second graders at Lincoln School was particularly fascinating, because the young students knew so much about computers already.  While in the high school, Palm and his students redeveloped the CHS website and utilized the proximity of UMC with the “Introduction to Laptops” video created with Tom Sondreal.  “Teaching was tremendous fun,” said Palm.

After the 2000-2001 school year, however, Palm’s teaching license expired, and he was again looking for work.  Once more hoping to avoid the big city, Palm was excited to see an IT technician opening in Becker County.  Despite a sizable pool of applicants, Palm landed the job, largely, he says, because of his varied experiences and projects at UMC.  Even his work as a resident advisor (RA) in the campus residence halls came into play:  “My RA position has helped me with every single job interview I’ve had. It provided a leadership opportunity unlike anything else, and employers always comment on this.”

While at Becker County, Palm worked on their mainframe computer, an AS400, which challenged his technology skills.  “UMC is so progressive, I was a bit unfamiliar with the older technology.”  Working on a team with two other people, Palm’s communication and time management skills all helped make this working environment go smoothly.  He attributes much of this success to courses he took at UMC.  “UMC gave me a strong management background, too, which is rare in technology degrees.  Business experience is so important, and it has served me tremendously.  One of my most valuable courses was project management/leadership, a business simulation with 20-25 other INM majors.  We worked in teams and were graded mainly on our interactions with coworkers.  I don’t know that anywhere but UMC could have provided that kind of experience.  My friends who went to Bemidji State or U of M, Twin Cities never had that kind of course experience.”  

In Becker County, Palm worked with the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) program for mapping purposes.  Until this system was utilized, the highway department had done the mapping, but the demand for mapping was too high for them to manage alone.  Palm worked with the Detroit Lakes ambulance system to provide GPS (global position system) coordinates for every driveway in Detroit Lakes, so they could insert an address and get accurate directions to any home needing assistance.  GIS also helped the public when it came to parcel ownership questions, for example.  Because of the importance of mapping in both Becker County and his current position with the City of Crookston, Palm says, “I would’ve taken land use survey courses if I had it to do over again.  Even if GIS is not a career goal, the IT people do need to know this because we are exposed to mapping so much.”  

Working with digital mapping and GIS/GPS is part of Palm's job, and it offers many benefits over traditional mapping.

In August of 2002, the City of Crookston advertised for a tech position, and Palm had to check with his fiancé, Diane Delperdang (whom he met while on rounds as a Resident Advisor at UMC) to see if she would be interested in moving back to Crookston.  She, too, felt connected to the Crookston community, and was excited for the chance to return. 

Palm got the position, originally with the Crookston Water Department, but found he was needed throughout all departments.  “When the accounting software goes down, I have to understand accounting,” he points out.  He is now the information technology director for the City of Crookston, where he keeps “everything with a plug operational.”  From LED signs to the network system to the City of Crookston website, Palm oversees the technology that serves the city.

When Midcontinent Communications offered the City of Crookston the public access channel, along with the Commodore 64 and other equipment that was providing basic slides of information to the community, the City accepted.  This project is currently in development, and Palm has done some custom programming to allow more graphics through PowerPoint.  They can do full motion video as well, though they have not yet utilized this feature.  “We want to use Channel 3 to inform the community, because that’s what makes active members.”   Palm also wants to improve public awareness of Internet resources available here.  Broadband service, for example, is one possibility Palm hopes to discuss with the community in planning for the future of technology in Crookston.

Palm and his wife, Diane, who majored in Equine Science at UMC, have built their home in Crookston, and Palm is excited to be working with the city.  In five years, he hopes to have the GIS system fully implemented, and hopes to have the city moving forward as a technological entity.  Palm also looks forward to expanding community information, through the web, through the community access channel 3, and through other opportunities.  Personally, he looks forward to having children in the future, and is glad to have come back to Crookston for that reason, as well.  He says, “I’ll feel really good raising them in a community like Crookston.”

Palm speaks glowingly about his alma mater, and gives UMC credit for where he is today.  “Here, I have such an opportunity to feel directly involved, connected to the organization and the city.  It’s a great feeling that I don’t know if I could get anywhere else.  I really feel like I’m doing what I should be doing.”

Written by Jennifer Ganyo