Moving mountains in Motown: trailblazing technology at the Wayne State University PC clinic

ABSTRACT

The Wayne State University (WSU) division of Computing & Information Technology (C&IT) provides limited computer diagnostic and repair services on supported personal computers of WSU students, faculty, and staff (Customer). This face-to-face PC Clinic service is an extension of the WSU C&IT Help Desk. I plan to discuss the technology tools, successes, and challenges that have been realized and discovered in the creation and operation of the PC Clinic. Tools we use include Astra 32, Linux boot CDs, and more. Successes include providing on-campus, low-cost solutions, delivered by University students/staff that are known and trusted; providing Wayne-centric services, like ResNet and WSU licensed software. Other successes include tight integration with Housing, Telecomm, C&IT Help Desk, and the departmental technical support community. Our most popular service is the security tune-up service that I'll explain at length. By providing these services call waiting times and volumes have decreased at the Help Desk. Challenges include staff scheduling, customer queuing, liability, terms of service to include in customer agreements, and cost recovery. This paper will also include the past, present, and future in regards to facilities and services.

REFERENCES

• 1: Lafave, Bradley, PC Clinic Price List. published on http://clearinghouse.wayne.edu.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.5 Security and Protection (D.4.6, K.4.2)
          Subjects: Invasive software (e.g., viruses, worms, Trojan horses)

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.5 Security and Protection (D.4.6, K.4.2)
          Subjects: Authentication

General Terms:
Management, Security

Keywords:
Cisco Clean Access Agent, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (dhcp), Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (ldap), network authentication