Support Services and Help Desk

The Simmons Help Desk mentors and trains new students and regular staff through a comprehensive online and hands-on training program. Topics cover technical baselines and also Simmons-specific policies and procedures. Staff are assessed through observation, quizzes, and metrics. As a result, technicians provide consistent, high-quality service.

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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Burton Group (www.burtongroup.com) provides technically in-depth research and advisory services for colleges and universities, government agencies, and commercial enterprises. Burton Group's practical and unbiased research and advice helps technologists make smart IT infrastructure decisions in increasingly complex environments. Burton Group covers directories, identity management, application platforms, architecture, and network and telecom infrastructure topics. Like ECAR, Burton Group is an unbiased advocate for the user and more than 80% of Burton Group's clients are user organizations rather than suppliers. EDUCAUSE member institutions can become users of Burton Group research services through EDUCAUSE pricing. Burton Group is an ECAR partner and can be contacted by email at slesueur@burtongroup.com or by telephone (801-373-5767).

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.

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 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 the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to demonstrate how the central IT help desk can become an integrating support organization in the context of a large, decentralized university.

Citation for this work: Spicer, Donald Z., and Judith A. Pirani. "University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Integrating IT Support Institution-Wide" (Case Study 9). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2007, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

Tulane University found partnering for help desk support both necessary and satisfactory, with the added benefit of operational lessons learned through the process.

When technology support comes from a number of different departments on campus, how does a user know where to find answers? This predicament brought together various departments to find a solution for frustrated users: a centralized online help desk. Locating the appropriate software and implementing it became a joint effort.

Students expect anytime, anywhere access to IT resources from multiple locations ranging from home to the classroom to the airport. Temple provides around-the-clock support through its service desk and its learning spaces such as the TECH Center. This model is highly adaptable and scalable to both small and large levels. Introductory Level