Locked out of BobcatMail? Can’t open Canvas? DUO won’t work? By the third or fourth login attempt, you might consider tossing your device through an open window. We Bobcats, though, have a much better option. We can call, email, or open a chat with the IT Call Center.
Experts
Every day, Texas State University’s Information Technology Assistance Center (ITAC) fields hundreds of calls, emails, chats, and walk-up help requests. However, these pleas for tech support come first to a single intake point. The IT Call Center, on the third floor of the Math and Computer Science Building, serves as the initial line of help for any technology issue anywhere on Texas State’s campuses. It also just happens to be the model for student employee training and development.
Educators
The IT Call Center’s energy and expertise in resolving a high volume of user technology issues is remarkable, but something else makes this team exceptional. The Call Center’s full-time employees share an unparalleled dedication to investing in student employees. Investment can be defined as the act of devoting time, effort, and energy to a purpose hoping to achieve a worthwhile result. For the IT Call Center’s 13 full-time employees, investment and culture are synonymous. This team is deeply invested in the professional development of their student employees, offering on-the-job education, training, guidance, and growth opportunities.
After completing the interview process successfully, trainees work through purposefully designed Canvas modules to learn the IT Call Center’s processes and procedures. Based on a thorough understanding of how students learn, trainers supplement Canvas modules with experiential application. While moving through the modules, student employees shadow full-time employees who are resolving in real time a help topic the trainee is studying.
Mentors
Student employees of all majors are welcome in the IT Call Center. Candidates need to bring just one of two traits: technology skill or customer service ability. This team will teach the other. Whether a student is interested in technology careers, like software design and web development, or in business pursuits, such as client services or marketing communications, experience in the IT Call Center is an enormous asset.
The real-world business and technology integration skills gained in the IT Call Center are extensive. Students learn university policy and procedures, business etiquette, and a broad range of cloud products and software. This unique training experience, of course, sets students up for success in other fields, and even in other university departments. And that’s exactly what the IT Call Center team wants. The team unselfishly invests hours of time, effort, and positive energy into their workers, so those students can achieve their own goals and successes.
Bobcats
So, the next time your credentials don’t seem to work, Canvas won’t open, or your emails disappear, hold on to your device because ITAC is just one click away. Remember, too, the person greeting you is likely a Texas State student in training, focused on supporting the success of fellow university stakeholders. Your chats, emails, and calls are the hands-on learning experiences the IT Call Center leverages to invest in the future success of our Bobcat students.
Kimberly Conner is a publications writer in the IT Marketing and Communications office.
