Introduction

The University of California, Davis has experienced a rapid, exponential growth in distributed computing over the last 10 years with the installation of over 15,000 personal computers on desktops throughout the organization. Earlier attempts at providing centralized technical support were only marginally successful. A completely new approach is required to meet the growing needs of the campus community. A new type of support, the Technology Support Program (TSP), which is distributed in nature and in alignment with the campus culture, has been successfully implemented at UCD.

Structure

The structure of the Technology Support Program, places the departmental Technology Support Coordinators at the center of all technical support activities.

The Information Technology Representatives (ITR) serve as program coordinators and facilitators. They schedule training and planning sessions with feedback from the Technology Support Coordinators. They participate in, but do not dominate, online discussions and ITRs maintain the Web site based upon their understanding of frequently asked questions or current topics of discussion.

The ITRs also serve as a single point of contact for Technology Support Coordinators for unresolved technical questions or assistance with finding the appropriate external technical resources. To ensure good customer service and trouble ticket management, Remedy's Action Request software is used to track calls from coordinators and to track question type. This data is used as feedback for program development and to track the time requirements for various program activities.

Program Objectives

Collaborative Relationship with Departmental Technical Support Coordinators

• Close association with Information Technology staff for ongoing coordination and technical support
• Bi-directional information exchange through electronic communication
• Recommended Solutions,  http://it.ucdavis.edu/Solutions/

Ongoing Professional Development for Departmental Technical Support Coordinators

• Training in the development of a departmental technology plan in close collaboration with Information Technology staff that integrates departmental systems with institutional hardware and software infrastructures and conforms with institutional policies and practices
• Online resources which support these activities are gathered from multiple sources rather than solely created by I.T.
• Classes to foster self sufficiency and collaboration with I.T.

Campuswide, Distributed Technical Support System

The Technology Support Program is structured to encourage staff to look to on-line information or to communicate with other departmental Technology Support Coordinators (TSC) through topic specific electronic mailing lists before relying on central I.T. staff.

For More Information

http://tsp.ucdavis.edu/

http://www.cni.org/projects/iwis/97rep/iwis97.ucdcnirev.html

Contact:

Pat Kava, Manager Client Services Information Technology, University of California, Davis <mpkava@ucdavis.edu>, (530) 754-4333

webmgr@cni.org