Help Desk

Since its inception, the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) has remained the most widely recognized and adopted framework for IT service management. The many benefits of ITIL have become widely known and continue to grow as the community of practice matures. Most institutions using ITIL started with version 2 and are in the midst of their adoption process. Version 3 represents a significant change in the architecture of ITIL. ITIL version 3 aligns service management with evolving business environments, rapidly advancing technology, compliance requirements, and governance models, and it shifts ITIL from a process focus to a lifecycle focus. This research from the Burton Group discusses the notable shift in terms of how IT is viewed in the overall context of the institution.

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Due to service demands, we often expect our ResNet and student staff to perform miracles. This panel discussion will explore and compare solutions from three different institutions to training, retaining, and providing growth opportunities for student workers while meeting or exceeding service-level expectations.

This ECAR case study complements the 2007 ECAR study by Mark C. Sheehan, Service on the Front Line: The IT Help Desk in Higher Education, which examines the state of higher education help desk organizations, services, tools, resources, and management practices and how these and assorted other measures are related to desirable help desk outcomes. ECAR undertook this case study of New York University to demonstrate how the framework of IT service management practices and functions known as the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) can strengthen service management practices in a complex higher education institution.

Citation for this work: Pirani, Judith A., Mark C. Sheehan, and Bob Albrecht. “ITIL at New York University: A Framework for Excellence” (Case Study 1). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

Illinois State University used prime space in the student center to create a new avenue for students, faculty, and staff to receive technology help and also added fee-based services. See how the computer store, residential networking, and the help desk came together to meet rising support expectations on campus.

The help desk at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota relies heavily on student workers for the end-user support of our liberal arts undergraduate campus as well as off-campus graduate and professional programs. This presentation will share the steps we took toward improving the professionalism, performance, and perception of the help desk.

The CITES Help Desk has begun organizing student project teams as a creative approach to internal programming and training tasks while providing undergraduate employees with professional growth opportunities. This presentation will provide an overview of how we organized this endeavor and the perspectives of some student employees working on these project teams.

In 2007, ECAR conducted a study of help desk management tools and practices in higher education information technology. This session looks at the study's findings as they reflect the help desk's role in addressing the emergence of new IT environments and the changing expectations of the client base.

This session will cover how Massachusetts College of Art and Design implemented a new help desk ticketing system. Come hear what we learned and how we made it succeed.