Many colleges and universities have help desk positions staffed by students. It can be challenging, on several fronts. How do you hire, and retain, the right people? What kind of training is best? Can you prevent the ‘use it or lose it’ phenomenon? How do you evaluate their successes and grow from opportunities for improvement? This presentation will answer these questions in telling the story of Longwood University’s instructional technology “help desk”. Separate and distinct from the University’s information technology Help Desk, the Instructional Technology Collaborators are the student staff members within the Digital Education Collaborative. The ITCs are active participants in providing the support and structure behind the University’s commitment to teaching and learning excellence through the effective application of instructional technology. Members in the campus community routinely praise the ITCs for their professionalism and effectiveness. We’ll share the strategies we employ to earn this praise and answer the questions above.
