 Jim Rizzo Helpdesk Manager Providence College

Overview  About Providence College  History of Outreach  PC Self Help – A Wiki  Student Facilitation  Other Methods  The Future

About Providence College  Small Catholic liberal arts college  Approx undergrads  Approx. 80% live on campus  Single IT Helpdesk  2 full time employees  2 graduate assistants  61 student employees  Helpdesk, Lab Monitors, Technicians

Initial Methods  Family Day  Open House style event for accepted students  IT information table  Families most interested in computer purchases  CompUtopia has adjacent table  Orientation  Brief IT information speech  IT speech removed from orientation  IT information table

History of Outreach  ITEC  Instructional Technology Committee  Faculty technology interest group  Departmental self-assessment  Assess how well we meet student needs  Historically made choices ourselves  Decided to get more input from students

History of Outreach  ITEC sponsors student survey  Survey about 25% of students  Student forum  Result of survey  About 30 students attended from those surveyed  Wireless campus initiative resulted

History of Outreach  Student Info webpage  Students want one-stop page for all info  Started with IT, then to College Relations  Still searching for page…  Faculty One Stop webpage  Faculty want similar page  Want different look for page that exists  Still searching for page…

Summer 2008  Helpdesk Improvement Session  Hand-picked staff and students  What can be done to provide more/better service  Self Help wiki resulted  Wiki Intro Sessions  Introduced Self Help to small group  Started adding content  Helpdesk Summer Training  Got more input on bettering Helpdesk  Doubled wiki content in 45 min.  Brainstormed ways to advertise Helpdesk  Students stationed in dorms during move-in weekend

Fall 2008  Official launch of PC Self Help  Received requests for accounts  Content started to be created  Wiki Training/Working Sessions  2 sessions  Faculty/staff  Students  Explained wiki  Created new content  Began student facilitation  One meeting to introduce facilitation  Brainstormed questions on topic  Cable TV service on campus

Spring 2009  Wiki Training Sessions  3 open “drop in” sessions  Offer assistance for those interested  Explain why/how to use the wiki  Student facilitation  Reporting of data  Brainstorm new topics/questions

PC Self Help – A Wiki   Initially intended for IT documentation.  Helpdesk Improvement session changed that.  Needed to break down “silos” on campus  Extended to include multiple departments  Wiki software: MindTouch (  Hosted MindTouch Express available at

PC Self Help – Growing the Wiki  Held training sessions for faculty/staff and students.  Student sessions added more “Life at PC” info.  Met with individuals and committees.  More accounts created.  Increased usage by individuals.  Will continue to hold more open training sessions.

PC Self Help – The Response  General Excitement  Student Congress and Library most excited  Unsure of why we chose a wiki  Questions on moderation/policing of content  Some fear for the worst  Slow uptake for editors  Many page views

Student Facilitation  Training  Brainstorm topics  IT guided brainstorming  First topic: Cable TV on campus  Second topic: communications on campus  Brainstorm questions  Hold sessions  Started with own circles

Student Facilitation – The Response Facilitators  Facilitation program worth continuing.  Facilitators learned invaluable skills.  Facilitation program a success.  Awareness raised.  Students more engaged.  Expand beyond IT.

Student Facilitation – The Response Attendees  Sessions should continue.  Involve as many students as possible.  Larger general info session breaks out into smaller groups.  Easier to be heard in smaller group.  Informal sessions are better without faculty/staff.  Faculty/staff present at some sessions, not all.  Faculty/staff presence intimidates some students.  Attendees generally enjoyed sessions.  Gives idea of what IT does and deals with.

Student Facilitation – The Response IT Thoughts  Will expand program with more facilitators.  Will possibly expand topics beyond IT issues.  Format better than students sitting on committees.  Difficult to get student input on committees.  Feedback has proven assumptions to be true.  We have learned things that we never imagined  Students want print management

Facebook  Joined PC Class of ___ groups  Introduce myself  Answer questions  Mainly IT-related questions  Also questions I could answer  Students came directly to me with questions  Don’t accept or initiate friend requests  Prevents me from being creepy

Satisfaction Survey  Linked in s from ticket tracking system  New system doesn’t allow customization  No link to survey  Gave feedback on the Helpdesk experience  Allowed me to contact unsatisfied “customers”

Posters and Flyers  Advertise PC Self Help  Advertise capabilities of wiki  Advertise Helpdesk, eventually  What we do  Where we are  When we are there  Who we hire

The Future  Student IT Advisory Committee  Direct feedback from students  Prefer students not involved in other orgs  Guide future IT services  Use as more facilitators  Increase usage of surveys and forums  Survey all students  Involve more students in forums  Twitter?

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