Serving the needs of administrative users

Abstract

This paper will be a joint presentation on an issue for both Academic Computing Support (ACS, the user services group at Clemson) and the Division of Administrative Programming Services (DAPS, the administrative data processing group at Clemson): the expansion of user services to the university's administrative staff. We will consider how each organization approached this problem, how the activities of ACS had an impact on DAPS, and how the problem was tentatively resolved.The question of increased user service support by DAPS was raised about a year and a half ago when the Computer Center initiated the idea of a report-writing/data-retrieval group for administrative personnel. A coordinating committee was formed and included representatives from ACS, DAPS, and the Computer Center administrative staff. While a program for university personnel was within the role of a user services group such as ACS, it created a dilemma for DAPS: how to adhere to the priority of system development set by the university management but also meet the needs of the staff who requested specialized services and reports.While ACS did not have to reassess its role in order to provide service to the administrative user community, it did have to modify its traditional methods in order to serve that community's specialized needs. The areas most subject to change were those of education and consulting. In addition, ACS found it necessary to work closely with DAPS in order to be effective in serving the administrative users.The methods and activities described in this paper will also serve as an example of how a cooperative effort between a user services group and an administrative data processing group can lead to the formation of the nucleus of an Information Center.