Leveraging Both Quantitative and Qualitative Data Sources to Improve IT Help Desk Support Services

摘要

Information technology organizations in higher education look to customer satisfaction surveys or help desk software tracking data such as number of tickets resolved to measure effectiveness of help desk operations. While that is an excellent starting point to discuss effectiveness is it enough? A specific case study will be presented and discussed in this paper. Winona State University in 1997 launched its laptop program (now called the e-Warrior: Digital Life and Learning Program), providing every student with a laptop computer to enhance his/her studies. After 14 years, Winona State is still gaining experience with its Digital Life and Learning Program. The program continues to evolve as more faculty and students familiarize themselves with the changing needs of technology for students. Winona State will continue to learn more about the role of our technology program's impact on its students' educational opportunities for years to come. Using data collected from the e-Warrior Assessment plan information technology user services team improved existing student and faculty annual surveys that result in more specific, valid, and reliable indicators of self-reported academic benefits. Stratified random sampling replaced the current convenience sampling method, improving the ability to generalize. In addition, information will be presented on how the help desk satisfaction survey was used a starting point for follow-up faculty and student focus groups to provide more context to issues of IT student support services. Finally all of these changes fed a broader plan of assessment to evaluate program success.