WVU ETD Program: Technical Support for Students Kathy Fletcher Manager, Training & Publications Support Services Office of Information Technology West Virginia University

Technical Support at WVU Mixture of:  Centralized support from OIT Support Services: Help Desk, Lab Staff, Trainers, Consultants  Decentralized support from departmental staff

ETD Support Staff Formal support provided by OIT  3-5 full time consultants provide training and bulk of support  Help Desk to take/route calls  Computer Lab staff & student employees  Asst. Dir: maintains web server & ETD database until database conversion Informal support  Library Technical Reviewer  ETD Task Force members  Faculty members  Departmental staff members

ETD Technical Support Topics  General information: deadlines, guidelines, process, location of resources, workshop info  File conversion  Word processing skills  Acrobat software use  Scanning  Submission process and forms

Types of Support  Scheduled vs Unscheduled –scheduled: staff sets aside time for support –unscheduled: student comes in any time  Staff on Duty vs Self-Paced –staff time needed to create materials –publicity needed for both live sessions and for availability of self-paced materials

Staff NeededSelf Paced Scheduled Unscheduled Web & Print Resources Workshops Clinics Appointments Walk In Phone Support Summary

Support Statistics May 1999 May 2000 May 2001 May 2002 # students # visits avg hrs per student standard dev max hrs per student clinic lab hours staff/student ratio

Support Statistics 165 help desk tickets on ETD topics –March 8, 2002 – April 14, 2003 –includes Dec02 clinic attendees –includes appointments 6 workshops scheduled –1 cancelled, only one enrollee –31 attendees (3-14 per session)

Possible Challenges  hostile or anxious students  supporting off-campus students  staff turnover  competing support demands  keeping materials up-to-date

Tips for Success  train staff first  adequate resources –staff –copies of Acrobat and other software –scanners etc.

Tips for Success, continued  publicize deadlines & policies  server and database support  scheduling based on deadlines  be flexible and creative

Web and Print Resources Allocate time for creation and maintenance  Acrobat versions  Phone numbers  Task force members  College contacts

Phone Support  Help Desk x1  student can speak with consultant “on duty”  create ticket and consultant will call back  quick questions make appointments

Support   Resource account that tech support team can access  Reduces “shot-gun” s

Walk-in Support  limited since off campus  consultant “on duty” will take care of person  make appointment

ETD Workshops  Large group presentation each fall & spring semester  Hands-on sessions four or five times per year  Special request sessions for graduate seminars

Workshop Description  General Information  ETD Formatting Guidelines  How to create and enhance a PDF file  How to submit the ETD  ETD support options at WVU

Appointments  Advantages –personal attention to students’ needs –staff reserves time to provide service  Disadvantages –time consuming, inefficient –staff may do too much of the actual work

Clinics Students drop in without reservations Use training labs and ETD support staff Clinic days normally start at 8:30am or 12:30pm and run until 5 or 8pm One or two Saturday sessions Schedule sessions 2 weeks before deadline

Clinics [slide 2] Advantages Self paced Guidance readily available Access to resources: Acrobat software, scanner Quiet time for staff to catch up on and projects if no students show up Disadvantages Lab & staff hours Possible need for weekend / evening hours Hard to predict usage