As a college student, technology plays a significant role in your academic life. You have to rely extensively on your devices and the internet for everything from research and assignments to online classes and communication. But as anyone who has attended college is aware, technology isn’t always dependable. Knowing how to ask for and receive tech support when problems emerge can make a big difference. Fortunately for Hunter students all information regarding technology help can be found on the Hunter Information Technology website. They offer a variety of services here, including maintaining student accounts, gaining access to programs, protecting information, resolving technical issues and many more.
Although the Hunter Information technology website provides some extensive services, some students express discontent with the online services provided by the website. Delay in email replies is a regular complaint, with many students having to wait “at least 24 hours for a response” , says an anonymous student. Most of them by that time are feeling concerned and frustrated about their problems. It is clear that their online services should be more accommodating when it comes to students’ concerns. Some students, however, hold a different perspective. They argue that despite the lengthy email response times, the service offered by the information technology team is still good and frequently resolves issues within minutes of contact. Additionally, these students noted that this year’s record growth in the number of new freshmen must be taken into account. “Hunter college may not have expected this level in tech-related problems, so maybe they have been unable to handle the increased need for support,” says one anonymous student.
Moving on with their in-person services people tend to be more satisfied stating that their problems are solved significantly more effectively when they do so. In person interaction offers a direct response and a personal touch that are frequently missing from digital communication. Students value having direct conversation with experienced staff members who can address their questions and provide assistance and direction. This one-on-one engagement helps technical issues to be resolved more quickly and gives students a greater knowledge of the solutions offered. An anonymous student says, “ Their service was actually pretty good, went in to get my email fixed cause it wasn’t working and they got it done in a few seconds with nice service.” Another hunter student says,”I had to wait for a while to get my issues solved since there were a lot of people with the same problems but honestly I feel like it’s more worth it to actually fix it in person, it’s time saving. From the looks of it, it seems like students mostly prefer the in person experience over online mainly because of how time efficient it is.
In my personal experience I too prefer the in-person services that Hunter Information Technology Support provides. I visited Room 303 in the North Building during my first week of college to receive instruction on how to use Blackboard. The welcoming receptionist gave me a warm smile and asked me to sign in on a board. It took some time for someone to help me because there were a lot of students in line. Eventually, a tall guy approached me who was probably a student helping out due to a staff shortage. He gave me around ten minutes of his time to help me navigate Blackboard’s complexities. The help I received in person was quick and a lot simpler to understand. He manually explained the Blackboard features, which would have taken me more time to understand if I were to read through written instructions online or explore the website myself.
I recently made the decision to go back to the support desk to find out more about their services. I noticed the room was far less packed than it had been during my first week when I had arrived. I signed in as usual, and the staff named Ashley greeted me and asked what the matter was. I asked her regarding the services they offer. Ashley then went on to describe their main services, which included email support, Net ID support, help with Wi-Fi access for students without internet access, aid with the ONE card, CUNY First account, and assistance with those. They also handle supplemental name changes for students who get married or legally change their names. I asked her about their email response time, and Ashley clarified that they use a ticketing system called CUNY IT Help, where each email creates a ticket. She also addressed the longer wait times for responses, referring to extreme demand during the opening weeks, when 150–200 students a day were requesting tech support. Interestingly enough, they have just six people on their staff, thus it’s difficult to reply to everyone right away. Ashley advised going in person as they prefer walk-ins over tickets. I also asked Ashley whether they assist with fixing devices, to which she responded that they don’t handle the technical aspects but can assist with issues like password keychain problems or software malfunctions etc.
Given these insights, it makes sense why some students complain about the online service provided by Hunter Information Technology. All students should, however, choose in-person support as it often results in quicker problem resolution. Hunter should really invest more into their student help desk department because issues like these can make students stressed while they are already dealing with the heavy coursework and personal life.
Sources
