Shellie Brattain-Mazzella
Title: Senior software developer, data delivery & integrations supervisor in the office of information technology, enterprise applications
Time at UNLV: 20 years
Immediate family: Husband, two boys (ages 12 & 10), and a mutt terrier (15)
Tell us about a woman who’s been a mentor to you.
I don’t know if there’s any one woman. I’ve tried to learn something from every woman I’ve been fortunate enough to work with. There are so many amazing women on this campus and so much to learn.
Who is an unsung hero at UNLV?
All of our UNLV families. Those that are working and maintaining their households and taking care of their children and elders and navigating this pandemic and getting anxious about decisions outside of their control. I can admit that I am privileged in many ways and I feel like I’m treading water sometimes. I hope to utilize that privilege to help pull others out of the deep end.
You’re stuck between meetings with 30 minutes to kill on campus, what do you do?
Take a walk around the amazing campus, checking out buildings and finding new and interesting spots. Depending on the time of year, there’s always some interesting events happening or beautiful scenery to take in.
What UNLV head-scratcher do you wish you knew the answer to?
I still wonder (and am working on) why this campus does not have a consolidated data delivery system. Many people are still passing institutional data around on thumb drives or via email. There are all sorts of things wrong with that scenario. I’m currently trying to propose a data strategy that would hopefully help resolve this (15 years in the making).
What did you do the last time you took time off?
Relaxed at home, binged some Supernatural on Netflix, and binged some sci-fi fantasy books. I’m an avid reader and a sucker for a sci-fi cozy mystery. My next day off involves a massage, now that I’m vaccinated!
Any advice for young women starting careers on campus?
Get involved in some committees within your unit as well as university-level committees. It will help you see the bigger picture of what’s happening around campus. It’s a good way to learn from others and find some mentors. Also, working with others in different areas helps to gain confidence in making changes.
What issues are women facing today that you feel you are positioned to help solve, and how are you working to help solve those issues?
As co-chair of the Family Advocacy Committee of the UNLV Women’s Council, I’ve heard from many of our members about what their priorities are. With the support of the Women’s Council Steering Committee and like-minded members of the UNLV administration, we’ve recently been able to work with the administration to put together a Lactation Space Task Force to look into creating and standardizing these spaces across our campus.
Our biggest goal this year is to put together a proposal for child care/programming services. We’re looking at proposing a phased approach that would hopefully have some immediate impact for UNLV families as well as looking at the long-term infrastructure and goals for these types of services.
What life lessons have you experienced recently or within the past few years that have really changed the way you look at life?
I’ve really tried to focus on the things that I have control over or can do something about and not to over-stress the things that don’t fall into those categories, taking stock of what’s important to me and putting my efforts there.
Tell us something that might surprise us about you.
I’m a UNLV “lifer.” I’m a native Las Vegan, born and raised. I worked as a student at the then-SCS (System Computing Services) student help desk. (I was hired after deleting my entire root directory and going in for help). I met my husband in the UNLV honors program. I graduated from UNLV cum laude with honors and a BS in MIS (management information systems). After a short stint in the private sector, I came to work at UNLV OIT. I currently mentor/teach an MIS independent study course that is a collaborative brainchild of mine, between MIS and OIT.
