February 21, 2015 (Week 4)

This week in shadowing, I learned a lot about the departments and services offered by the TLT. When I was shadowing Medha in the TLL, we went over guest accounts and how to help a user through the chat and email. Guests can only get complete access to the internet on the thin clients, which are located in the Central and North Reading Rooms. In other SINC sites, guests can only access Stony Brook University websites. I also learned about the software benefits students can receive after they graduate from school. Students have 200 days before their stonybrook.edu email accounts are deactivated. To continue email service, alumni need to apply for an alumni.stonybrook.edu email. There are several other things that alumni need to do to maintain their accounts on services offered by the university. Most of the information can be found online on the DoIT website.

For site manager shadowing, Sharon went over Lotus Notes and Charles went over Client Support. Lotus Notes is used for professors and instructors to sign up for TLT supported classrooms. I also learned that there is a big difference between TLT and Client Support. Client Support deals with mostly software, internet and networking, and certain programs. They also help students fix their computers by sending them to the manufacturers. TLT, on the other hand, deals mostly with student related software and hardware, such as Blackboard, SOLAR, Print from Anywhere, and clickers.

From this week’s shadowing hours, I can see that Help Desk technologists and Site Managers have significantly different roles. The former requires more knowledge on programs and specific steps in accessing them. Being the latter requires more leadership in direct communication with users. Medha mentioned that she was able to apply more of her skill sets and information she has learned as a technologist. Having experienced both positions, she feels it has helped her better with her speech and customer service skills. It has taught her to be thorough and careful as well. Right now, I  am still unsure about which position I will apply for at the end of the internship. I mentioned leaning more towards Site Manager in my last post. I really want to work more on my leadership skills and I think that being a Site Manager will help with that. Hopefully, I’ll figure it out before the end of this internship!

February 15th, 2015 (Week 3)

We finally started with shadowing hours this week! I was looking forward to meeting more of the senior consultants who keep the SINC sites and the Help Desk running. I learned a lot this week at the TLL for Help Desk and also in the Main Library SINC site for site manager.

To start off my shadowing hours, I had Adrienne and Medha for Help Desk. I had to start the session late because the consultant who was supposed to come in after me in Central Reading Room didn’t show up. I messaged Main and talked to Sharon to arrange someone to come and take over. Luckily, Adrienne understood my problem and we were able to get on with the session. I learned that a Help Desk technologist is responsible for public workshops, helping students and faculty with their problems and concerns on the phone, email, and online chat, and mentoring new and returning consultants. To be honest when I started working for TLT, I had no idea that there was something called Help Desk nor did I know it was run by students. They mostly work behind the scenes and are required to know more about the services TLT offers. Adrienne also showed me the tabs that needed to be open when on duty. The three most important ones are Gmail, SBConnect, and Velaro, which is the online chat system in which students and faculty contact the TLL. When I was shadowing Adrienne, I can tell that she has to walk the caller step by step. She was extremely patient with the caller and showed her professionalism in the call. I also learned that everything job performed has to be documented must be logged onto Footprints. I feel that a Help Desk consultant has more to do while on job than a Site Manager does.

For my shadowing hours in Main, I had Sharon, Charles and Hilton. Sharon explained that the responsibilities of a Site Manager include consultant workshops, managing sites, helping at the front desk, and mentoring new and returning consultants. She also said something that I completely agree with. To sum up the responsibilities of Help Desk and Site Manager, the former is more involved while on the job and does not have many responsibilities outside of shift hours. Site managers, on the other hand, have to keep tabs on their sites even after their shift ends. Moreover, it requires more face-to-face communication than Help Desk in terms of students and faculty needing help and consultants needing guidance. During shadowing, Hilton taught me the importance of being able to delegate jobs to other consultants. As a Senior Consultant, he has to stay at the front desk incase someone approaches him with more complicated tasks and if the phone rings. Therefore, he cannot be running around fixing printers and jams. He had me tell one of the other consultants to assist at the printer line. It felt weird for me to tell him to do something I wanted, especially since I did not know him well. In the past, I have not been much of a leader. However, I know that an important trait, especially for a senior consultant, is to be able to delegate tasks efficiently and effectively.

Overall, I learned a lot more about how SINC sites and Help Desk are run. As for now, I still don’t know for sure which position I will end up choosing. Right now, I’m leaning more towards Site Manager because I like having the face-to-face communication with other people. I feel that it will make me a better consultant and also a more confident person. I am looking forward to this coming week’s shadowing hours!

February 8th, 2015 (Week 2)

The second week of classes has just ended, but I can already feel the work and deadlines slowly creep up! I have attended most of my classes in spite of the past few snow days, but there are still a few recitation classes that I have yet to sit in on. Unfortunately, I still haven’t experienced what a full scheduled week feels like because shadowing hours are starting this week! I am excited to meet some of the other Senior Consultants I have not worked with so far. I hope to learn a lot from them and listen to their experiences as interns and Senior cons.

To sum this past week up, I’ve learned more about proper work etiquette and two features of TLT: Digication and the CoLA centers. In class on Friday, Urszula from the Career Center gave us a general run through of what the TLT internship entails. We will be evaluated throughout the semester by our performance and our assignments. Urszula also gave us a leaflet that explained the Do’s and Don’ts in the work environment, which I thought it was helpful and easy to follow. Jasmine and Jennifer, two Senior cons, also gave a detailed presentation on how to use Digication to set up our e-Portfolios. I’ve used Digication before for my WRT 102 class when I had to post my essays up for my final project. Luckily, my instructor showed us before hand some general tips and tools on how to navigate through the page. Rose and Pam explained that we will be using Digication as more of a professional platform to advertise ourselves for future employers. Since I already had my page set up before, I plan on refining my page and adding more career related information. Aside from learning more about Digication, I also learned how to help students reserve CoLA booths. I worked a shift in NRR2nd floor on Sunday from 3 to 6PM. I was lucky to have Daniel, a Senior con, show me the procedure in signing up students for CoLAs. The steps are straight forward, and I am glad I learned. Next time, I can help students sign up as well! I am glad I am learning more as I work around the different SINC sites. Last semester I was on probation because I missed one of my shifts on my first day during Temp 1. Although I learned a lot from the Senior cons in the Main Library, I did not have the pleasure of working in the other sites. However, I have that opportunity this semester and I’m planning to hop around the SINC sites to understand how each are run!

February 2nd, 2015 (Week 1)

I just had my first TLT internship class on Friday. I was nervous at first because I didn’t know who my fellow interns were. However, once I walked in I saw many familiar faces as well as some new faces. In total we have 14 interns for this year. Seeing how close the current Senior Consultants are, I am looking forward to building lasting friendships with everyone!

To start off the new semester, Rose and Pam invited Nichole to come and talk about SBYou, a blogging website powered by WordPress. I have never had a personal blog before as I would prefer to talk directly with others. The only other form of social media I use is Facebook; however, I use it mostly to private message other people. Rose and Pam explained that we will be using SBYou to write our journal entries as reflections of our internship. The only other similar program that I have used is Digication for my e-Portfolio in my WRT 102 class. At first, I thought creating a blog would be difficult. However, Nichole was thorough in going through the simple steps in customizing our websites. Unlike Digication, SBYou has a more flexible and user-friendly platform. I am able to add media and different widgets to preset themes. I can make posts and create pages only with a few clicks! I feel that documenting my experience throughout this internship will help me improve and develop as a person. I can read on my past worries and mistakes and fix them as I move forward. Moreover, by being more open I can get feedback from my peers and also develop my thoughts and ideas. Having such a versatile website to voice my ideas, I can feel free to express myself in my own way and through my own words. I am looking forward to the rest of my journey down this internship! This is only the first step!