During a meeting of the Upper Columbia Conference executive committee held May 7, 2026, Tim Shafer was appointed UCC director of information and technology services following Art Lenz’s retirement. Shafer has served as UCC associate IT director since 2020.
“Shafer is reliable and has vast technical experience and crucial knowledge of our infrastructure,” said Eric Brown, UCC vice president for administration. “We are glad Shafer has accepted the role as director.”
In 2005, Shafer graduated with a bachelor's degree in adventure-based counseling from Canadian University College. From 2006 to 2008, Shafer worked at Big Lake Youth Camp in Oregon before joining the maintenance team at Upper Columbia Academy, his alma mater, in 2009. After three years of maintaining electrical and mechanical systems, Shafer returned to school.
In 2015, Shafer graduated with an associate’s degree in computer information technology from North Idaho College. During his education, he interned at UCC under Lenz.
After graduating, through a connection made by Lenz during his internship, Shafer apprenticed at Cerium Networks before becoming a systems administrator for their IT communications department. He gained valuable experience in this role as he provided network support, troubleshooting complex issues and mentoring.
In 2020, Shafer returned to UCC as associate IT director. During his time at UCC, he has proved to be a good steward of the conference’s data and provided essential technical resources for UCC’s entities and institutions.
“Our goal is to support our conference ministries working smoothly,” said Shafer, "both in proactive maintenance and by streamlining our internal processes as much as possible.”
Each year, Shafer volunteers to coordinate UCA’s senior survival. In his free time, he enjoys spending time outdoors camping and hiking with his dog, Lacey. In her free time, Lacey enjoys shredding toys.
