Mission
The purpose of the Help Desk is to provide, through a single point of contact,
prompt and professional technical hardware and software support for faculty
and staff. We achieve this mission through a variety of activities:
- Installing and supporting specific software applications.
- Troubleshooting microcomputer problems over the telephone and through site
visits ("house calls")
- Performing minor hardware upgrades and repairs such as installing memory
or batteries.
- Providing information to assist the University community in using technology
and solving problems on their own.
In the course of these activities, the Help Desk seeks systematically to collect
information on trends and challenges for the future.
Essential Qualities of a Help Desk Analyst
The best Help Desk Analysts are not necessarily those with the highest level
of technical skills. Whatever your technical expertise, it is even more important
that you possess these attributes:
- A willingness to take initiative and learn continuously.
- A friendly customer-service attitude
- A mature and professional approach to the job.
Job Classifications and Duties
Four informal job classifications currently exist for student employees at the
Help Desk: Apprentice, Analyst, Senior Analyst, and Assistant Manager.
- Answer phone, collect and forward information
- Accompany and assist Analysts on house calls
- Learn technical skills and procedures
- Organize files and information, keep area neat, etc.
- Answer phone as needed
- Schedule and carry out assisted or unassisted house calls
- Undertake special projects as assigned
- Develop new technical skills to match most common requests
- Organize files and information, keep area neat, etc.
- Answer phone as needed
- Schedule and carry out advanced house calls
- Undertake special projects
- Develop documentation and employee training materials
- Develop technical skills in specialized areas
- Organizefiles and information, keep area neat, etc.
- Carry out the functions of a Senior Analyst (see above)
- Manage certain help desk functions (recruiting, training, scheduling of
employees, developing written procedures, etc.) under the supervision of the
Help Desk manager.
Evaluations
All employees may submit, at the start of their employment, and at the start of
each semester thereafter, a self-rated evaluation of their own job skills, interests,
and objectives for the future. The Help Desk manager will then meet privately
with each employee to discuss these self-evaluations. Please note that the self-evaluation
is for your own growth and development and is not used as a performance evaluation.
Promotions and pay raises will instead be based largely on these criteria:
- how well you’ve demonstrated a friendly and professional customer-service
attitude
- the amount of initiative you’ve demonstrated in seeking out new projects,
goals, and tasks
- your adherence to announced policies and procedures
- your continued development of new skills and knowledge
- your overall job performance as measured by direct observation and customer
satisfaction.