IT Pop-Up Service Desk—Making service easier than ever
No matter how long ago they attended, anyone who has ever been a college student knows how overwhelming those first few weeks can be. There is so much to learn even before you show up in class for instruction, and very little of it can be done without technology. This emphasizes the importance of having a customer-focused IT Department that is committed to making life easier for students (as well as staff) as they become acclimated to UMass Boston. One way that the department ensures easy access to support is through the use of pop-up desks—desks populated with a variety of staff and student workers that are located in key areas during student orientation and the start of each semester.
Held over the summer, student orientation is really where it all begins for incoming students. This is where they learn how to do things such as log in to Wiser and enroll in courses, as well as other skills they will need to be self-sufficient in future semesters.
While students are instructed on how to set up their accounts prior to arriving on campus, many do not check their e-mail or complete the necessary tasks. There are others who do these things, but who run into unexpected complications requiring immediate assistance. “Programs like pop-up desks are important because they make the new student experience more user-friendly,” says Jason Courtois, a computer science major and one of IT’s student workers under the PACE program. “It makes it more efficient because we will have lines of students with issues and instead of sending them to the library, we can help them right there.”
The pop-up desks are also set up at the start of each semester, with the goal of helping students, staff, and faculty access help without having to wait for a long period of time. The start-of-semester problems are similar to those staff see during orientation pop-ups. Multifactor authentication and password lockouts are the biggest issues, followed by Wi-Fi, Wiser, or learning management system trouble. To ensure that all sorts of issues can be dealt with on the spot, the pop-up desk staffs a variety of experts—a desktop expert, someone from application services, someone from the security team, and so on.
For Nasser Abasali, Director of the IT Service Desk, the most important goal is for people to leave the pop-up desk feeling positively about the service they received and their overall interaction with IT staffers. “Make sure you give them a memorable experience,” he tells those who staff the desk. While knowledgeability is important, so too is friendliness and timeliness, says Abasali. In an effort to further streamline the walk-up experience for Spring 2024, a check-in system was created to handle any lineups that might emerge. A ticketing system displays the order of the line using an iPad on a kiosk, which increases efficiency and provides clearly communicated timing expectations. People can now walk away for a few minutes to go to the bathroom or get a coffee, with the knowledge that they are in the queue and will receive notification when their turn is approaching.
Students have certainly taken note of IT’s presence in the student center, and the increased convenience this offers. Take Mayi Perez, an Africana Studies and Human Services student who recently transferred to UMass Boston. Perez stopped by the desk to discuss a keyboard issue, but only because walking by the pop-up made it incredibly easy. “It was very helpful. Where else am I going to go? I’m busy. I can just walk by and ask a question,” she says. “It feels good to see that our tuition money and fees are being
used for us.”