Students as service champions: a success story

ABSTRACT

University helpdesk staff have a daunting job description: work all hours of the day and night, support an impossibly diverse population using an array of software and services, and keep up with an ever-changing university environment, all without getting burned out on service altogether. While many campuses have assumed that FTEs are the only answer, Northwestern University has had tremendous success with an all-student staff for over 30 years. We'll share how we've used a team of students and student managers to:<ul><li>provide comprehensive first level support for all major software packages and services, and fulfill the role of second-level support,</li><li>log over 90-95% of customer contacts, allowing for collection of detailed metrics,</li><li>work seamlessly with full-time staff in other areas of IT; handle tricky service issues and day-to-day helpdesk operations after full timers have gone home for the day...</li></ul>

...all while maintaining a customer service satisfaction rating of over 90%!

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.1 Project and People Management
          Subjects: Staffing

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.1 Project and People Management
          Subjects: Training

General Terms:
Economics, Experimentation, Human Factors, Management, Performance, Reliability

Keywords:
helpdesk, management, second-level, staffing, students, support