June 21, 2017, by Sharon Caine

Student IT Tutors – here to help

Last year, the IS managed Student IT Support (SITs) programme was bigger than ever with over 125 students employed to help their peers with IT issues. The programme ran from the start of the new academic session and continued throughout the year at our five Smart Bar locations.

The programme supported 25 different locations and provided 9,500 hours of support.

The programme has received very positive feedback from both those receiving help and those providing it. As one SITs tutor remarked:

“I had a great time working with other SITS tutors and IT personnel. It was a period for me to develop new IT and inter-personal skills. I never had downtime as an SITS tutor because every challenge gave me a new sense of confidence” – Olubunmi Aidomojie – MSc Environmental Engineering.

In May 2017 we began planning the SITs provision for the next academic year.  As part of our preparation for the new programme, we asked students in University Halls of Residence to offer suggestions for improving the programme.  One of the main suggestions was for greater promotion of the service as some of last year’s Freshers had been unaware of this support.

Some of the suggestions to aid awareness were:

• Putting a letter under people’s doors advertising the service
• Putting notices up
• Including SITs as part of an introductory presentation or as part of a welcoming committee
• Sending out a welcome email from SITs
• Including a note from SITs in the Welcome box

We are very grateful for this feedback which we will incorporate into our planning of next year’s SITs programme.

Recruitment of SITs tutors for the next academic year has already started – access the IT Services website to learn more about this valuable peer-to-peer service.

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