Have you met Mike Horton, Facilities Supervisor in Ancillary Services? Spend the next few minutes getting to know him a little better.
Where is your favorite place on campus?
All the various walkways throughout campus — I walk to all my meetings on campus. Probably my favourite spot would be the Quad. You see a lot of people sitting there and just clearing their minds — it’s a great space for that.
Tablet or paper?
Both — I work with both a laptop and an IPad but I’m still old school with my paper binder for writing things down and making notes.
Name one thing you’ve brought to work from home.
I have my family pictures. And I have a pencil sketch that a friend of mine did of his son that I had framed. It’s a nice reminder of family and the importance of family.
What is the one thing you can’t live without?
Family, friends, and the great outdoors. I really love the outdoors. I do a lot of fishing, hunting, hiking. My summers just fly by with lots of outdoor time, but I keep the connection up all year.
If you won airfare to anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I’d have two wishes here: I’ve never been to Europe, so Greece would be a place I would love to take my wife to see. And there is one province in Canada that I have not been to and that’s the Northwest Territories. I’d love to explore it.
You can invite anyone — alive or dead, real or fictional — to dinner. Who would it be?
Muhammad Ali — I’m not even a huge boxing fan, but from what I know of him and all the challenges he faced, and the beliefs he stood up for, he seems like he was a pretty amazing guy.
If you could switch jobs with someone else on campus for a week, what would you do?
I’d coach the U of A hockey team, the Golden Bears. I love hockey and I always follow the Bears. There’s a real atmosphere at their games — things are rocking! So that would be a pretty cool job….
What does “uplifting the whole people” mean to you?
For me it means being accountable — of your surroundings, and of the community. We have an amazing and growing campus and we need to ensure our students have a safe and efficient ‘home’ here. I work for ancillary services with students living in residence — so that focus on home, on safety and comfort, is important to me. This concept incorporates the whole campus in my mind.
If you could solve any problem in the world, what would it be?
National resources conflict. We’re always arguing about oil and pipelines. We really need to work together to ensure the environment is safe, while at the same time working towards building and maintaining a strong economy.
At the end of the day, I look at all the different departments and faculties on campus and the kids coming here to study — medicine, engineering, so many other areas — we need these students to have something to go to when they graduate.
What 3 words best describe your U of A experience?
“Provide safe home.” That certainly reflects my work in ancillary services.
Mike Horton has worked with Ancillary Services at the U of A for 30 years. During that period, he has held positions as a maintenance worker, an apprentice plumber/gas-fitter, and a maintenance/mechanical foreman. Mike currently serves as the Facilities Supervisor for Ancillary Services.