IT professional development and helpdesk support on a shoestring budget or renewable resources

Ever tried to find innovative ways of providing professional development opportunities to your support staff with little or no additional budget for the activities? Ever tried to implement a new technology, like a portal, with no additional budget for support staff? Pima Community College developed two different plans to address the needs of the institution and offer training opportunities to IT technicians and specialists. The Tech Swap program is completely voluntary and provides entry level IT staff with cross training throughout the district. Each technician would spend a day at one of the host campuses to assist in projects, deployments, and troubleshooting. It allows the technician to get to know colleagues, learn how technology is managed at other locations, and in general, learn more about the college. Pima implemented a portal system in the fall of 2006. We had no idea how many phone calls or email messages we would receive from distressed students or employees. We did know that we would need to provide evening and weekend coverage beyond the normal business hours for the first few weeks of the semester. Once again, there was no budget to expand helpdesk support. Instead volunteer participants of IT technicians and computer lab managers worked evening and weekend shifts alongside district IT helpdesk staff to provide service. This presentation will demonstrate how we offered training opportunities to staff and support for a new technology at minimum cost to the institution.