Working Together: Giving Students the Professional Edge

1. Working Together: Giving Students the Professional Edge A Case Study at Duke University Erin Nettifee Resnet Student Technology Conference July 2011

2. 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

3. Duke University ~6500 undergraduates ~7700 graduate students ~8,000 campus staff Not founded as Duke University until 1924

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

5. Where the story starts August 2008 – The Link opens(link.duke.edu)

6. 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

7. 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

8. Program Structure Full-time Multimedia Lab Manager Full-time Trainer Full-time Service Desk Manager Student Employee Program Mgr Multimedia Students Student Trainers Tech Support Students

9. 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

10. 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.

11. Benefits for Full-Time Staff Division of operational + administrative duties = more time for each area Centralized recruiting is a big win.

12. Benefits for Full-Time Staff Staff input into training (for their areas and others) means you trust students to do more.

13. Benefits for Full-Time Staff This structure forces us to be more thoughtful in decision making.

14. 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

15. Second Year: Structure & Changes Changes at Service Desk Student Manager Program begins Changes in Training Program Addition of new program areas

16. Customer Surveys

17. Ticketing Systems Previous – students used survey system to record customer encounters Brought into OIT implementation of Remedy First year: painful Second year: better.

18. Student Manager Program • Meet operational and recruiting needs • Build off projects and ideas

19. Changes in Training Program Addition of multimedia training for all staff Student managers instructing/teaching classes

20. 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

21. Third Year: Structure & Changes Multimedia Lab assessment & service model plan Growth of online training Growth of Student Manager program

22. 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.

23. 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

24. 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.

25. Lessons Learned Time is everything.

26. Lessons Learned Sometimes there can be too much cross-training.

27. 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.

28. Questions? Thanks for your time – and your feedback! http://www.resnetsymposium.org/rspm/evaluation/ erin.nettifee@duke.edu