Tapping an unlimited resource: the young, talented and creative minds of student workers

Abstract

At Indiana University (IU) I manage a group of 60 network consultants who are charged with connecting and maintaining network connections for 12,000 campus residents. In addition our group manages 29 technology labs. In times of budget reductions and fewer hours to complete our ever-increasing workload, we've taken advantage of the opportunity to utilize the great minds we currently have in our employ; our student workers. Our diverse group of students continue to astound us with their unlimited creativity, talent and energy for developing the types of tools we need for coordination and management of our business processes. We will illustrate the online tools we use for shift reporting and monitoring, site information, FAQs, problem reporting, online chatting, and many others. Participants at SIGUCCS should walk away from this presentation with lots of ideas for managing their resources and expanding their boundaries with student involvement in tools development.