Cynthia'Rubinosimmons'edu

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• Cynthia.Rubino_at_simmons.edu
• Steph.Simard_at_simmons.edu
• Simmons College
• Boston, Massachusetts
• 2006

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Outline

• Department background who we are and what we do
• Student employees strengths and challenges
• Training program development, goals and
  logistics
• Program outcome pros and cons
• Next steps

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Simmons College

• Small, urban
• Undergraduate womens college (1,800)
• Graduate schools (2,500)
• College of Arts and Sciences
• School for Health Studies
• Graduate School of Library and Information
  Science
• School of Social Work
• School of Management (all women)

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Technology at Simmons College User Services

• User Services Help Desk, Media Services, and
  General Access Computing
• General Access Computing includes all computer
  classrooms, study rooms, labs and Information
  Commons.

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Information Commons technology and staff

• Information Commons clients
• Information Commons technology
• Technology Desk staffing
• We work closely with librarians

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Student employees the face of Technology

• Software support
• Printing
• Scanning
• Saving and transporting files
• Loaner laptops

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Their strengths

• Peer-to-peer support is empowering and believable
  to student users
• As peers and fellow technology users, serve as
  great examples and leaders
• Interest in learning and using technology

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And challenges

• Turnover Students graduate and take knowledge
  with them
• Priorities We have high expectations for
  employees whose primary focus is school, not work
• Distractions at work Students are preoccupied
  with IM, email, friends, and schoolwork
• Scheduling conflicts Its difficult to gather
  for trainings

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Available training options

• ElementK online tutorials
• Technology workshops run by Academic Technology
• Mentors and shadowing
• Manager-led trainings
• Pre-Evaluate as a testing tool

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Examples of training topics

• Software
• Microsoft Office Word, Excel, Access and
  PowerPoint
• SPSS, SAS and Minitab
• iMovie
• Adobe Acrobat and Photoshop
• Macromedia Dreamweaver
• Resources
• Saving, sharing and transporting files
• CD burning
• Scanning documents
• Digital imaging

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Emergence of the Training Challenge

• Fall of 2003 Staff offered compensation to
  attend workshops. A few took advantage, most did
  not.
• Spring of 2004 Staff offered the same plus
  access to ElementK tutorials. Staff informed that
  training is an important job duty and essential
  for re-hire. Most completed at least 1 hour of
  training.
• Fall of 2004 A challenge was introduced. Staff
  divided into 2 teams competing for a prize.

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Training Challenge details

• Employees meet with manager to develop and sign a
  personal training plan
• Employees divide into 2 competing teams
• Teams receive 1 point for every hour of online
  tutorial or hands-on workshop completed
• Managers track performance through attendance
  sheets and administrator use of ElementK
• Winning team receives prize and notoriety

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Training Challenge Results

• Average of 14-16 student workers per semester
• Hours reflect online tutorials and hands-on
  workshops

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The Training Challenge rocks!

• Increase in employee learning
• Individuals can choose trainings based on own
  learning style
• Better customer service and support
• Enhanced teamwork, motivation and collaboration
• Increase in self-confidence
• Skill-building for resume
• Easy for managers to maintain

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Participant testimonials

• There are benefits in both types of trainings.
  With the combination of both fantastic! I got
  paid for them. I gained points from them. I
  learned from them. The trainings helped to add
  more value to my knowledge. Finally, I can share
  what I have learned, which is very important.
  Eleana
• I have received various questions on Excel, and
  the training did come in handy to refresh my
  memory and point out new info I didnt already
  know. Elizabeth
• The CD burning class I took was really helpful
  I learned all the terminology and settings to set
  in order to burn CDs properly. I recently helped
  a student burn CDs for the first time and I feel
  that the course made it much easier to help her.
  Sweta

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Challenges of this training program

• Students graduate/turnover
• Procrastination
• Some shift schedules dont allow for much
  training
• Some have taken all workshops
• Some forget new knowledge if they dont use it
  often enough

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Next Steps

• Tutorials
• Student-led trainings
• Measuring learning and knowledge
• Enhanced trainings on customer service and
  troubleshooting
• Training time scheduled into the work week