Meet Chris Serafin, electric trades supervisor in UMBC’s Facilities Management (FM). Serafin has been at UMBC for 9 years and was recently awarded a USM Board of Regents’ Staff Award for his exceptional work, including a high voltage electrical switch replacement in the Engineering Building that ended up saving the university a half a million dollars in contractor’s fees.

Q: What’s one essential thing you’d want another Retriever to know about you?

A: I enjoy my job as electric supervisor and have a great group of high voltage electricians that work hard every day to ensure the stability of the UMBC power system. I received my management studies degree in 2020 from the University of Maryland Global Campus, taking full advantage of the tuition remission program provided by the State of Maryland. I enjoy building furniture and playing guitar in my free time.

Q: Tell us about someone in the community who has inspired you or supported you, and how they did it.

A: John Zahor [AVP for FM]  has been extremely supportive in my career at UMBC. He has been a hands off boss and has allowed me to make critical changes to how the UMBC electric shop is run, which has greatly improved the efficiency of daily operations.

Q: What part of your job do you enjoy the most and why?

A: Leadership has allowed me to be proactive, creative, and think outside the box when exploring the fascinating world of electrical theory.

Q: Tell us about the people who have helped you at UMBC.

A: Lenn Caron [acting vice president, Administration and Finance], John Zahor, and Valerie RiChard in Facilities Management have allowed me to run the UMBC electric shop the way I think in needs to be run to provide the electrical requirements of administrators, faculty, staff, and students at UMBC.