Working Together: Giving Students the Professional Edge

Erin NettifeeResnet Student Technology Conference

July 2011

A Case Study at Duke University

Today’s presentation

• Introduction to Duke and Duke IT• Program Structure – a 3 year story• Year One– Trial by Fire – benefits & challenges to staff

• Year Two– Growing young managers & continuous change

• Year Three– Service models & push for growth

• Lessons Learned and Next Steps

Duke University

~6500 undergraduates~7700 graduate students~8,000 campus staff

Not founded as Duke University until 1924

IT @ Duke

• Office of Information Technology (OIT)– Central IT support structure– Owns undergraduate student support– Main support located in Duke’s biggest library

Where the story starts

August 2008 – The Link opens(link.duke.edu)

Before the Link

• Student management part of Labs / Academic IT area

• Basic evening service (6 PM -11 PM) – student workers by themselves in campus libraries & labs

• Basic beginning of year training + monthly staff meetings

First Year: Structure & Changes

• Student Employee manager position becomes part of service desk department

• Students & full-time staff at walk-up service desk together, for first time

• Staff training expanded and more formalized• Link opens

Program Structure

Student Trainers

Tech Support Students

Multimedia Students

Full-time Multimedia Lab

Manager

Full-time Service Desk

Manager

Full-time Trainer

Student Employee

Program Mgr

Benefits for Students

• Asked them to develop a more mature understanding of how organization works

• Easier to crosstrain and explore different interests

• Aligning more closely with Service Desk led to higher expectations for job performance – pays off in job market

Challenges for Student Staff

• Asked them to develop a more mature understanding of how organization works– Not easy to have two managers

• Steep learning curve• Higher expectations in terms of professional

standards– What it means to have a job.

Benefits for Full-Time Staff

• Division of operational + administrative duties = more time for each area

• Centralized recruiting is a big win.

Benefits for Full-Time Staff

• Staff input into training (for their areas and others) means you trust students to do more.

Benefits for Full-Time Staff

This structure forces us to be more thoughtful in decision making.

Challenges for Full-Time Staff

• Time investment– We are always stretched thin.

• Cross-organizational demands– Stretched thin in our areas, AND have to

understand what’s going on elsewhere

Second Year: Structure & Changes

• Changes at Service Desk• Student Manager Program begins• Changes in Training Program• Addition of new program areas

Customer Surveys

Ticketing Systems

• Previous – students used survey system to record customer encounters

• Brought into OIT implementation of Remedy• First year: painful• Second year: better.

Student Manager Program• Meet operational and recruiting needs

• Build off projects and ideas

Changes in Training Program

• Addition of multimedia training for all staff

• Student managers instructing/teaching classes

Addition of New Program Areas

• News & Information– Lost an FTE position, not able to replace it– Grow an entirely new position in organization

• Community Outreach program– Formerly an FTE role– Stretching IT presence out to benefit partners and

resources

Third Year: Structure & Changes

• Multimedia Lab assessment & service model plan

• Growth of online training• Growth of Student Manager program

MPS Lab Service Model

• Summer 2010• http://sites.duke.edu/oit-mps/about/• Data & assessment driven questions about

how MPS lab is doing, and how our students are doing

• Important recognition of role of student staff for a crucial university service.

Growth of Online Training

• Duke uses Lynda.com• Student workers take advantage of resource to

learn– Particularly multimedia courses

• Just-in-time learning to supplement employee meetings and training

Growth of Student Manager Program

• Expanding student manager ranks from 4 to 7 students (roughly 1 per 4-5 front-line employees)

• Enforce high standards in terms of communication– Metaphor of classroom teacher– Explicit in tying job experience to interviewing for

real world jobs.

Lessons Learned

Time is everything.

Lessons Learned

Sometimes there can be too much cross-training.

Where We Want to Go From Here

• Build a merit-based performance recognition process.

• Continue to focus on retention & morale.– Connecting job expectations now to professional

benefits down the road.• Figure out if we want to grow more, or if this

is the right size.

Questions?

Thanks for your time – and your feedback!http://www.resnetsymposium.org/rspm/evaluation/

erin.nettifee@duke.edu