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| Vol. 18, No. 7 | Oct. 15, 1998 |
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| Vol. 18, No. 7 | Oct. 15, 1998 |
Student technicians include (from left, bottom row) Brian Gillespie, Sandro Di Giacomo, Patrick Nelson and Fred Shields; (middle row) Jim Dankle, Scott Stephenson, Melissa Reich, Chris Smith and Andy Gross; (back row) Eric Sylves, Bill Yosmanovich, Glen Stoole, Stephen McDonald, Jim Gluck and Neal Goldstein. Not pictured are Mike Zotti, John Hayden, Elliot Seifert and Elliot Tobin.
This summer, staff throughout the Office of Information Technologies discussed that scenario.
"We didn't really think that every last student would bring a computer this semester," said Carol Anderer, IT-User Services, "but we assumed that more students than ever before would bring a computer into their residence hall rooms."
As part of the plan to support the increase in student computing, IT-User Services tried something new-hiring 19 student Residential Computing Consultants (RCCs) to go to student rooms to help with connectivity questions during the first six weeks of the fall semester.
"Our students made over 1,200 service calls in the first six weeks of the semester," Anderer said. "This proved to be a very efficient way of helping that many students connect to the network."
According to Anderer, students began reaping the benefits of the program during move-in days: student RCCs and IT professional staff worked at five different locations in the residence halls. "Students could drop off their computers and network cards with us, then come back later to retrieve their systems, all ready to connect directly to our network," she said.
"Students and their families seemed to appreciate our service that weekend," Carol Jarom, IT-User Services, said.
Jean Neff, IT-User Services, added that, "During move-in days, we set up over 280 systems for students and sent our RCCs on over 100 visits to students' rooms to resolve particularly tricky questions."
"Move-in days were pretty hectic," Melissa Reich, a junior computer science major, said. "We helped a lot of students. But by the sixth week, the calls quieted down."
"The freshmen and transfer students seemed to need more help than did returning upperclass students," Elliot Seifert, a senior computer science major, said. "Some upperclass students needed help registering their computer for full Internet access, but new students had problems ranging from bad cables and cards to missing software."
Reich said that installing the network software was the most common way she helped people. "Re-installing a network card that someone had installed improperly was probably the second most frequent thing I did," she added. "And installing a network card from scratch was the third most frequent."
Reich said that if she found the network card was installed properly but that the software needed to be installed or reconfigured, "I made sure I praised whoever installed the card to help the student feel he or she had some mastery over their system."
According to Sandro Di Giacomo, a freshman in computer engineering, once the word was out that he was an RCC, people would stop him in the halls and ask him questions. "It was all OK," he said, "except for the time someone knocked on my door after 2 a.m. I told him I'd gladly help him some other time, then went back to sleep."
Other RCCs found themselves getting "hijacked" by people wanting help with everything from Adobe Acrobat to Z-Term. "Sometimes, when I'd arrive to keep an appointment, I'd hear other residents shout, 'The computer guy's here!'," Seifert said.
"People would come in and ask if I could stop by their room before I left," added Reich.
Brian Gillespie, a junior in mechanical engineering, indicated that it was sometimes hard to keep the students focused on the reason for his visit.
"Our job was to help other students with two things: getting connected to the network and setting up 'Dr. Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit,'" he said. "They'd often ask other questions. I'd try to help them if it was a question with a short answer and if I had a few minutes before my next appointment. But I'd always refer complex questions to the Help Center-or suggest the person read the documentation."
Even though they couldn't answer every computing question in the residence halls, the RCCs found themselves the objects of effusive thanks. "People would offer me food, sodas, even CDs with software demos," said Di Giacomo. "I know the people we helped appreciated our ability to help them quickly."
Seifert said that further proof the RCCs were doing a good job was the number of "word of mouth referrals we'd get. Instead of calling our main number to schedule an appointment, some students would call me or one of the other RCCs individually and say that we'd helped somebody who suggested they call us."
Gillespie said that, as he expected, he learned a lot of specific technical things working in the program, but found that being an RCC raised issues he'd not encountered previously: "I've worked in customer service jobs before, but going into someone's living area to help them with a problem was a new experience for me."
"It was cool being able to help so many people," Di Giacomo added. "On some floors, particularly where the freshmen are housed, it seemed like nearly every room had at least one computer."
"And their owners all had questions!", added Reich.
Sharing expertise
According to Leila Lyons, IT-User Services, the new RCC program proved a great success.
"Having more help available in the residence halls-where the students do most of their computing-is essential," she said. "Further, since all the RCCs live in the residence halls themselves, they were particularly attuned to the needs of the students whom they were helping."
Having students help other students was another important goal for the program. "Both the RCCs and the students they help benefit from the program." Lyons indicated that while the RCCs gain valuable job experience, increasing both their technical and customer service skills, their student clients also have benefited. "Although it would be an overstatement to say that the RCCs acted as mentors for the other students, we did see many instances of the RCCs sharing their expertise so that their clients could learn from the 'house call.' The program made for both good teaching and learning experiences.".
