Four Tier Support Committee

Supporting Documentation

• Tier 4 (Core Expert) staff who work in ITS
• Faculty from Arts and Sciences
• Tier 2 Computing Support Representatives from the Tier 2 Advisory Team

1. Increase and improve communication both within the support model and to the end-user.

a. Due to the model being relatively new, additional internal education is needed to clarify "gray areas" between tiers and assist staff in knowing where they belong within the support model.

i. Old silo model still present in the minds of ITS staff and end-users.

b. Tiers need to be more involved with each other's projects and initiatives.

i. "Ride -alongs" or shadowing each other is a good way for people to learn what each other do.

c. Core Experts need to be notified of trends occurring in other Tiers so that research can be more focused toward the end-user's needs.

d. More frequent reviews of Service Level Agreements need to occur.

e. When Core Experts communicate directly with end-users, they feel more "in tune" with the end-users and remove the necessity for translation by a third-party.

i. Core Experts want to be protected from constant end-user calls, but also feel the need for direct contact.

f. All 4 Tiers need to proactively communicate retirement of and changes with IT services to the campus community.

g. IT computing standards for the Boulder campus need to be addressed more clearly.

i. Web standards need to be communicated to departments.
ii. Site-licensing needs to be more heavily advertised.
iii. Security guidelines need to be more heavily advertised.
iv. There should be a better bride between Human Resources and ITS to provide accurate information to new Faculty and Staff.

2. Move support closer to the end-user.

a. End-users much prefer someone "local" who can assist them with IT.

i. End-users like Tier 2 Computing Support Representatives, though the program needs to increase campus knowledge of its existence.

b. It is more effective for someone supporting IT for an area or group to be (at least) familiar with the specialized IT needs of that area or group.

c. Make the support fit the environment.

i. "One size does NOT fit all."

3. Support for classrooms and labs (Educational Technology Facilities) has room for improvement.

a. Have a distributed contact (Tier 2 or Tier 3) for Educational Technology Facility Support (ETFS).

b. Communication with faculty about changes in ETF's needs to be increased.

4. Online support needs to be expanded and improved so it can be a more effective resource for ITS and end-users.

a. An online explanation of the 4-Tiered model would be helpful to ITS staff.

b. Web support needs to be specific to the Boulder campus.

i. Replication of vendor information is not helpful.

c. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section is needed.

i. The FAQ needs to be worded in language that the end-users themselves would use.
ii. Should be keyword-based and searchable.
iii. During development, include end-users to affirm efficacy of FAQ.

d. A knowledge base available to Tiers 2, 3, and 4 is needed.

5. ITS training needs to be more heavily advertised.

6. Clarify is seen by the Core Experts as providing poor work-flow management.

a. Information provided in cases needs to be more thorough and specific.

b. Patterns in cases should be provided to the Core Experts.

c. Documentation for Clarify would be useful to less-frequent users.

Lead