IT Services student support arrangements during Start of Year
24 Sep 2020
IT support arrangements will look slightly different during 2020’s welcome period
As the campus begins to reopen, IT Services, along with the Library’s Digital Support teams, have confirmed what support will be available for students.
Students can request IT support 24 hours a day online through the IT Support Portal. The Support Portal houses a searchable knowledge base that holds hundreds of articles answering the most common IT related questions that the Support Centre receives. The Support Portal also gives students the ability to raise a support ticket if they are unable to find the answer to their query through the knowledge base.
The IT Support Centre will continue to operate the telephone service as normal, as well as responding to the enquiries raised through the Support Portal. The phone service is available 24 hours a day including weekends and bank holidays.
Limitations
IT Services are unable to provide face-to-face support from the walk-up service desk in the Kilburn Building. The configuration and size of the room is not suitable for social distancing.
Library Digital Support
Students can contact the Library for remote IT Support using the Library Chat and Library Help service. The Library's Digital Support team provide a wide range of support for students, including connecting to email and other University services, support for personal devices and help with Microsoft 365.
The Library provides a key element of on-campus digital support for students with its physical IT support desks in the Alan Gilbert Learning Commons and the Main Library. To support remote working, the Digital Support team have primarily moved onto the web-based Library Chat platform and students can get digital support through that channel.
From the start of Semester One, the Digital Support team are planning to provide a blended model of support, including some on-campus digital support alongside Library Chat. This will be carefully managed in adherence to relevant COVID-secure guidance, and coordinated with IT Services colleagues. There are some practicalities to resolve to ensure we are following guidelines, so start dates for this will be confirmed and shared as soon as possible. In the meantime, Library Customer Services teams will be on campus in Main Library, the Alan Gilbert Learning Commons and Joule Library, and can field digital support enquiries and refer them to the appropriate team.
In addition to these services, the Library now works in partnership with IT Services to deliver HelpMeGetOnline. This service offers a laptop loan or dongle (a device that allows access to the internet) for students if they meet certain criteria. HelpMeGetOnline is now integrated with the Library Chat service, and the Library Digital Support team can support students remotely to access University resources.