Will more hours be allotted during the first few weeks of the semester when more help may be needed?
Help Desk
Given the nature of technology and that technical issues will arise during the course of the semester, the school will need to address technical assistance for off-campus learners. Should it provide for a university-based help desk, an outsourced help desk, or some combination? This is not an easy decision. It requires a cost analysis to assess staffing a help desk with staff and students versus outsourced staffing. Software will be necessary to run the help desk and a training budget allocated to train the staff. The school will need to make decisions about help desk staff’s ability to reset passwords and access the CMS, with designated privileges for functions they can perform, such as configuring a student’s browser and firewall and running virus checks. What is the range of help that a student working at the help desk can provide? Will more hours be allotted during the first few weeks of the semester when more help may be needed? Is there an orientation program for the students to the CMS?