Today@Sam Article
Here To Help: IT@Sam
July 28, 2021
SHSU Media Contact: Hannah Crandall
"Here to Help" highlights the many student services available at SHSU. Often these services are provided at little or no cost with a Bearkat OneCard. If your department would like to be featured email today@shsu.edu.
Story by Mikah Boyd
The start of a new semester requires lots of preparation in-person and beyond. IT@Sam works hard to provide students with all the resources they will need to succeed in their coursework on and off campus.
“IT@Sam is responsible for keeping the university running,” said Stephanie Smith, IT client services marketing and communications coordinator. “This includes ensuring everything from internet access, software access, phones, computer labs etc. stays up and running to support not only students, but campus as a whole.”
Through IT@Sam, students have free access to resources such as Microsoft Office 365 and numerous computer labs with printer access. They also provide support when issues with this software arise and assist students when updating their passwords or activating their accounts. All these things are accomplished through the service desk, which takes numerous calls and emails daily.
“The service desk handles an average of more than 150 calls per day in a five-month semester,” Smith said. “That comes out to more than 3,000 calls per month on average. This doesn’t include email requests for assistance.”
To meet this high demand, IT@Sam provides technology tutorials that can be accessed at any time.
Another important role that IT@Sam fulfills is that of cybersecurity assistance. They work hard to keep the university and students safe from cybersecurity attacks by keeping everyone educated on different kinds of cyberattacks. This information is distributed through various campaigns and tent events at the university mall and online through the phish bowl. The phish bowl serves as a reference point for students, faculty and staff to refer to if they believe they have received a phishing email.
Outside of educating students about cybersecurity, IT@Sam collaborated with SHSU leadership to partner with LastPass Premium to work proactively towards keeping everyone’s information secure. This password manager will not only keep up with students’ login information, but also keep documents secure.
“Students are our priority in and out of the classroom,” Smith said.
Smith encourages students to follow IT@Sam on social media at @SHSUServiceDesk to get up to date information on university-wide Wi-Fi outages, phishing emails and more.
“Additionally, we host competitions for prizes, provide useful tech information that includes tips and tricks for software, fun facts, quotes, information regarding new releases at SHSU, and more,” Smith said.
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