As a legal operations analyst for UC Legal, Andrew Stranahan (MSLIS ’23) helps make pertinent information easy to find, access, and use. He credits the iSchool’s Competitive Intelligence and Knowledge Management (IS 595) course, among others, with giving him the skills he needs for his work as well as the confidence to apply for the position.
Where do you work, and what is your role?
I work as a legal operations analyst for UC Legal, which provides legal support for each of the campuses of the University of California system. Some of my responsibilities include managing the UC Legal public website and supporting minimum continuing legal education (courses attorneys need to attend to remain accredited as an attorney).
What do you like best about your job?
I love working in academia, and I love working with such supportive and kind colleagues. I also love being able to apply what I learned both inside and outside of the classroom at U of I to my current position. For example, thinking about the end user informs how I make hyperlinks accessible, select a file’s appropriate metadata, etc.
What do you see as the most important impact of your work?
I think that the most important impact of my work is reducing UC Legal staff's workload by making pertinent information easy to find, access, and use.
How did the iSchool at Illinois help you get to where you are today?
I stumbled upon the legal operations analyst job opening in January 2024. Part of this position's responsibilities includes knowledge management. Although I did not have any experiences with knowledge management in the workplace, I learned about this topic through Competitive Intelligence and Knowledge Management (IS 595). This academic experience with knowledge management gave me the foundation I needed to submit my application for the position. I was hired in March 2024. I am so grateful to the iSchool for offering this course, without which I never would have applied for the legal operations analyst job.
What advice would you like to share with iSchool students?
My advice would be to utilize all the wonderful academic and professional development opportunities available through the iSchool and university as a whole. The iSchool showed me that library and information science is a wide-ranging field, which includes varied topics such as public/academic librarianship, database design, and data governance. Thus, I encourage students to immerse themselves in as many different library and information science courses as possible.
In addition, I also encourage students to apply for a graduate assistantship, internship, etc. During my final year as a MSLIS student, I worked as a graduate assistant for the Scholarly Communication and Publishing unit in the Main Library, where I supported the Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship (IDEALS). Working alongside my supervisors and colleagues allowed me to apply what I learned in the classroom to a workplace setting and to hone my skills as an information professional. This experience was crucial to my professional development, so I highly encourage students to find similar opportunities both on campus and beyond.
One final word of advice for current students: Cherish the time you have as a student. The University of Illinois is truly a unique place with wonderful people, a plethora of excellent courses, an abundance of professional development opportunities, and a lot of great places to eat. Thus, whether you are a first-year, undergraduate student, or a PhD student ready to deliver your dissertation, I encourage you to have fun and enjoy your time at the U of I. Time flies when you're having fun!
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I love hanging out with friends and family, as well as watching movies and playing video games. My favorite movie is Kuroneko, because it helped me appreciate film as an art form and it showed me that there is more to horror films than simply jump scares and frights. I also love playing games like Civilization VI and Mario Kart 8.