Getting students off on the right foot

Abstract

The Connected@Iowa State program is in its third year in 2000, and we now have a comprehensive, year-long program to introduce students to computing at Iowa State University and to provide top-notch on-going support throughout their campus experience. Our annual program starts anew each April with a comprehensive booklet [3], Connected@Iowa State, mailed to all new incoming students. The 2000-2001 edition provides information about: • How students use a computer during their academic career at ISU. • Computer options ... labs vs. purchase. • Computing support available at ISU. • Minimum standards and levels of support. • Buying strategies when purchasing a personal computer for use at ISU. This booklet is followed closely by a mailing to parents about buying a computer for their student. Connected provides guidelines for purchasing a new computer, as well as a checklist to determine if a computer they already own will connect to the campus network and support the software distributed to students when they arrive at ISU. Students can visit our Back-to-School website beginning in June for information about special computer bundles. Our Easy Early Order Program [2] offers volume discounts for a wide range of pre-configured systems. These configurations can be ordered and waiting for students when they come to school in the fall. Once students return to campus, we have a variety of support options. Two sites are available to provide technical assistance. Our Solutions Center [6], open M-F 8 a.m.-5 p.m., is a central resource to help students get connected to ISU’s network. It is staffed by fulltime and part-time AIT staff, and during especially busy times, e.g., the beginning of semesters, it is also supported by fulltime staff from the Administrative Data Processing Center (ADP) [1] and the Office of Telecommunications [7]. Our Solutions! CD contains our locally written Scout utility. Scout installs and configures software that is compatible with the campus network. For those who need hands-on assistance, we provide on-site service through our SNAP (Student Network Access Project) program. For applications support, our student-staffed Help Desk provides walk-in assistance on all operating systems supported by Academic Information Technologies – Macintosh, Windows, and UNIX. This service, available 24x7 including holidays and weekends, is housed in a large multi-platform computing lab in the Durham Center.