Spectrum - Volume 21 Issue 02 September 3, 1998 - Get Connected! 98 successful in its on-campus connections

A non-profit publication of the Office of the University Relations of Virginia Tech,
including The Conductor , a special section of the Spectrum printed 4 times a year

Get Connected! 98 successful
in its on-campus connections

By Dianna Benton

Spectrum Volume 21 Issue 02 - September 3, 1998

User Services hired 139 student consultants to assist on-campus students with their network connectivity needs. The consultants worked in 15 teams that spread throughout campus staffing designated floors in the residence halls for two-hour blocks. Students received notification of the Get Connected! schedule at check-in for their hall.
The entire temporary consultant staff worked up to 12 hours daily during peak move-in, August 20-23, and also assisted during early move-in. They will remain in the residence halls as needed for the first two weeks of classes. A typical consultation lasted 30 minutes and consisted of installing the VTNet 98 software, entering IP addresses, and troubleshooting connectivity issues.
Parents of new students were especially grateful. Part of the consultants' training included "screen-side manner." "The last thing we want parents to be worried about is their son's or daughter's computer," said Bill Sanders, director of User Services. "We want to assure parents that any computer problems will be handled competently and in a timely manner."
User Services adopted a call-back feature so that parents who had to leave before their student's consultation could be notified when the consultation was successfully completed.
Students who needed a consultation placed a Get Connected! hangtag on their outside doorknob. Hangtags were delivered to each resident's room before move-in. The Get Connected! program was available for all on-campus students, but the primary focus was on the freshmen in this first year of the computer requirement.
Nearly 2,800 students were assisted by the Get Connected! teams during the move-in period.