Currently, to receive help, students must walk in between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., with the last check-in at 3 p.m. Students must be present as they wait to be helped and while the technician fixes their problem. Due to the high volume of problems, limited staff and time-consuming fixes, many students wait for prolonged periods of time. While waiting, students are not allowed to leave and must keep everything but their computer in their bags on the floor. Additionally, on particularly busy days OIT will stop taking walk-ins at 2:30 p.m. without warning, causing confusion and inconvenience to students who may have planned to come in at 3 p.m.
Rather than the current walk-in-only policy at the OIT office, a new appointment-based system should be set in place. Students should be able to sign up for help through an online appointment calendar. This change would increase the efficiency of OIT and guarantee students with pressing computer issues help and peace of mind. Furthermore, because time is of critical importance to students, if this new system is adopted the time spent at OIT could be cut in half in some cases. Students and staff members alike would be able to plan visits to OIT ahead of time and eliminate the headache of student rushes and time pressure. OIT could still receive a small number of walk-ins, allowing last-minute issues to be fixed. Students walking in would not receive the prompt service that those with appointments would, but they would be making the decision to wait instead of being forced to do so.
Additionally, OIT hours should not be arbitrarily cut by 30 minutes. For students with large blocks in their schedules, receiving help from OIT before 3 p.m. is difficult, let alone before 2:30 p.m. Any change in closing hours should be announced ahead of time and posted to the OIT website to minimize inconvenience and dissatisfaction.
OIT has a history of responding well to student complaints and suggestions. They consistently do a good job assisting students in solving computer-related issues such as software bugs, internet connection problems and hardware malfunctions. The student body is grateful to have its services free of charge, but the current policy prevents many students from accessing their help. To maintain their reputation and avoid inefficiency and disorganization, these simple changes should be adopted.
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