6 Funding and Staffing the Central IT Help Desk

Transcription

1 6 Fnding and Staffing the Central IT Help Desk Money may kindle, bt it cannot itself, or for very long, brn. Igor Stravinsky Key Findings At most instittions the central IT bdget is a major sorce of help desk fnding. Stdent technology fees, recharges to other camps nits, and fees for services were rarely cited as major or moderate sorces of fnding. More than half of respondents said their help desk fnding was inadeqate. At smaller instittions the mean nmber of help desk staff is abot 7; at instittions with between 4,001 and 15,000 FTE stdents the mean is abot 10; and at larger instittions it is nearly 18. At smaller instittions the mean nmber of FTE stdents per help desk staff member is abot 630, at midsize instittions it is abot 1,600, and at large instittions it is nearly 2,300. The better or respondents felt abot the adeqacy of the help desk bdget, the more likely they were to feel that camps expectations of the help desk were aligned with help desk resorces. Financial and hman resorces are key elements in nearly any spport endeavor. We asked or respondents for information abot their help desks bdgets past, present, and ftre and crrent staffing levels. While those data contained few srprises, we received less predictable responses to or qestions abot the perceived adeqacy of help desk fnding, the nmber of help desk staff relative to enrollments, and the alignment of camps expectations of the help desk with its resorces. Help Desk Fnding Obviosly, the financial resorces available to the help desk can make a difference in that organization s service level. Help desk fnding compensates staff and pays for their training. It prchases service tools for their se and selfservice tools for clients. Fnding (or lack of it) can affect working conditions, staff morale, and staff and cstomer attitdes. While money can t compensate for poor leadership, even good leadership can find it difficlt to thrive when fnds are wanting EDUCAUSE. Reprodction permission only. EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research 57

2 Still, as the qotation that opens this chapter points ot, money isn t everything. Mitch Davis, CIO at Bowdoin College, offers this observation: When I came here, IT was 9 percent of the total college bdget and everyone was dissatisfied with IT services. Today we are spending 5.2 percent of the college bdget and abot 96 percent of staff and faclty think we are doing a good job. So it s really not abot money; as I see it, it s abot commnications. Fnding Sorces For almost two-thirds of or respondents (63.7 percent), fnding for the central IT help desk is nder 10 percent of the central IT bdget, with nearly 4 in 10 receiving 5 percent or less (see Figre 6-1). Most of the remainder receive between 11 and 25 percent of the central IT bdget, while scarcely more than a handfl (6.7 percent) receive more than 25 percent. More than 9 in 10 (92.7 percent) of or respondents cited the central IT bdget as a major sorce of help desk fnding. Only 3.8 percent said it was a moderate sorce, while 2.2 percent said it was a minor sorce. Overall, 83.0 percent of respondents said they had only one major sorce of fnding; of these, 95.5 percent named the central IT bdget. Figre 6-2 depicts other sorces cited as contribting to the help desk bdget. Of these, only a stdent technology/compting fee was cited as a major sorce more than 10 percent of respondents; 9.6 percent cited it as a moderate sorce. None of the other sorces we asked abot was reported as a major or moderate sorce more than 4 percent of or respondents. Over 30% % % % % 14.2 Figre 6-1. Fnding for the Central IT Help Desk as a Percentage of Central IT Bdget (N = 344) Percentage of Central IT Bdget 10% 9% 8% 7% 6% 5% % 6.1 3% 2% % 4.7 0% 0.9 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% Percentage of Instittions 58

3 20% 18% Percentage of Instittions 16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% Figre 6-2. Minor and Moderate Sorces of Help Desk Fnding Other Than Central IT Bdget (Mltiple Responses Allowed) 0% Other Grants Fees for services Recharges to nits Stdent fee Minor sorce Moderate sorce Major sorce Fnding Sorce Fnding Adeqacy Or respondents were more often negative than positive abot the adeqacy of fnding for the central IT help desk, thogh not dramatically so. As Figre 6-3 shows, 44.3 percent described fnding as adeqate to mch more than adeqate. Another 45 percent said it was less than adeqate, and 10.7 percent said help desk fnding was mch less than adeqate. The overall mean response was 2.37 on a scale from 1 to 5 (standard deviation 0.722), not qite halfway between less than adeqate and adeqate. Or respondents sense of the adeqacy of the help desk bdget is significantly associated with the bdget climate they reported for their central IT organizations in the past three years. As Table 6-1 illstrates, mean agreement that help desk fnding is adeqate increases slightly from decreasing bdget climates throgh increasing ones. While all these means are between less than adeqate and adeqate, only the mean for instittions with increasing bdgets rises past the halfway point. Looking specifically at the past three years change in the central IT help desk bdget, we find the range of responses depicted in Figre 6-4. Of those who responded, 55.7 percent reported increases in the help desk bdget, while only 11.8 percent reported decreases; 23.7 percent reported no change, and a sbstantial 8.9 percent said they did not know. We also asked what bdget changes or respondents foresaw for the next three years, and Figre 6-4 shows the answers to this qestion as well. Again, the majority (59.1 percent) spoke of increases, althogh anticipated ftre increases were generally smaller than those reported for the past three years. Fewer respondents anticipated any level of decrease (5.5 percent) and no change (22.1 percent) than respondents reporting in those categories abot the past three years. As we expect with qestions abot fnding and the ftre, a large nmber of respondents to this qestion (13.3 percent) answered don t know. EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research 59

4 Mch more than adeqate, 0.2% More than adeqate, 3.0% Mch less than adeqate, 10.7% Figre 6-3. Adeqacy of Central IT Help Desk Fnding (N = 440) Adeqate, 41.1% Less than adeqate, 45.0% Table 6-1. Mean Agreement That Help Desk Fnding Is Adeqate, Central IT Bdget Climate Bdget Climate N Mean* Std. Deviation Decreasing bdgets Flat bdgets Increasing bdgets Total * Scale: 1 = mch less than adeqate, 2 = less than adeqate, 3 = adeqate, 4 = more than adeqate, 5 = mch more than adeqate Figre 6-4. Central IT Help Desk Bdget Changes, Past and Ftre (N = 452) Percentage of Instittions 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Decreased more than 15% Decreased 11 15% Decreased 6 10% Decreased 1 5% No change Increased 1 5% Increased 6 10% Increased 11 15% Increased more than 15% Don t know Percentage of Change Change reported for past three years Change anticipated for next three years 60

5 Help Desk Staffing Staffing is a critical resorce for the help desk, potentially affecting the qality of service provided to clients as well as the workload and morale of the help desk staff themselves. We asked respondents to tell s how many flltime eqivalent positions, inclding stdents, were assigned to the help desk. Staffing levels at or respondent instittions varied from less than one fll-time eqivalent employee (two respondents) to more than 100 (for respondents). Despite this wide variation, the majority of help desks in or sample (51.0 percent) had five staff or fewer (see Figre 6-5). A qarter more had from 6 to 10 FTEs, and most of the remainder had from 11 to 30 FTEs. Among respondents reporting between 1 and 100 help desk staff members, the mean was 8.15 (N = 441, standard deviation 8.21). The median was 6, reflecting the preponderance of instittions with nmbers lower than the mean. Help desk staffing is associated with several other instittional characteristics. (Note that Tables 6-2, 6-3, and 6-4 below exclde instittions classified as Systems. ) Understandably, greater FTE enrollments are associated with larger mean nmbers of help desk staff. As Table 6-2 shows, instittions with 4,000 or fewer FTE enrollments had a mean help desk staffing level of abot seven FTE. Midsize instittions had a mean of jst over 10. At the largest category of instittions, the mean was almost 18. Carnegie class shows a similar trend (see Table 6-3). Doctorals had a mean of almost 16 FTE, followed master s and associate s instittions with means of 8.50 and 8.25, respectively, while bachelor s instittions had a mean of 6.13 FTE help desk staff. These two tables, then, clearly show that larger instittions and those with more complex academic programs reqire more staff to provide help desk services. More than Help Desk Staff (FTE) Figre 6-5. Nmber of Help Desk Staff in Fll- Time Eqivalents (N = 447) Fewer than % 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% Percentage of Instittions EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research 61

6 Among respondents reporting between 1 and 100 help desk staff members, the mean nmber of FTE stdents served per FTE help desk staff member was 1, (N = 426, standard deviation ) and the median was , again reflecting a preponderance of instittions with nmbers lower than the mean. The mean nmber of stdents served per FTE help desk staff member was significantly associated with all three of or key demographic variables; Table 6-4 presents the details. In general, the larger the instittion, the higher the ratio of stdents to help desk staff. Midsize instittions serve more than twice as many stdents per staff member as small ones, and large instittions serve 3.6 times as many. With regard to Carnegie class, bachelor s instittions have the most favorable stdent-to-staff ratio; master s instittions more than doble it, and associate s and doctoral instittions more than triple it. At privately controlled instittions, the mean ratio is less than half that at pblic instittions. The ratio of stdents to help desk staff members is not, in all cases, the same as the ratio of potential clients to help desk staff. As we learned in Chapter 5, at abot a third of or respondent instittions, help desk spport varies depending on the client s class (faclty, stdent, or staff) within the instittion; ths many of or respondents help desks may not serve stdents at all. Nevertheless, we think the stdent-to-staff ratio is at least sggestive of the amont of spport help desk clients can expect, on average, relative to the demographics discssed here. Alignment of Expectations with Resorces We find a window into the qality of commnication between central IT and the camps in the extent to which camps expectations of the central IT help desk align with the help desk s resorces. Figre 6-6 illstrates the responses to that srvey qestion. The distribtion of responses is bimodal, with peaks at disagree and agree. Strong disagreement and strong agreement were both ncommon answers, and netral responses made p a relatively low 22.8 percent of the total. While agreeing responses exceed disagreeing ones slightly (40.3 percent to 36.9 percent), the separation of the two peaks hints at well-developed opinions on either side of netral. Table 6-2. Mean Nmber of Help Desk Staff, Instittion Size (FTE) Instittion Size (FTE) N Mean Std. Deviation 1 4, ,001 15, More than 15, Total Table 6-3. Mean Nmber of Help Desk Staff, Carnegie Class Carnegie Class N Mean Std. Deviation DR MA BA AA Total

7 Table 6-4. Stdent Enrollment (FTE) per Help Desk Staff Member, Demographics Instittion Size (FTE) N Mean Std. Deviation 1 4, ,001 15, , , More than 15, , , Total 426 1, , Carnegie Class DR 108 1, , MA 118 1, , BA AA 59 1, , Total 370 1, , Control Private Pblic 232 1, , Total 412 1, , Agreement that camps expectations are aligned with help desk resorces is significantly associated with or respondents feelings abot help desk fnding adeqacy. As Table 6-5 shows, the mean reported adeqacy of fnding steadily rises as agreement abot alignment increases. The difference between the low and high meanadeqacy vales is eight-tenths of a point on or five-point scale; the vales range from slightly below less than adeqate, among those who strongly disagreed that expectations and resorces are aligned, to a qarter of a point below adeqate among those who strongly agreed. Ths it appears that qite reasonably the better or respondents felt abot their bdgets, the more likely they were to feel they were meeting camps expectations. Smmary and Implications Most of or respondents help desks depend on the central IT bdget for their fnding. Relatively few consider recharges to other camps nits, stdent technology fees, or fees for services to be major or moderate sorces of fnding. While the central IT bdget and recharges are sally nder prely political control and ths can be tricky to increase, technology fees and fees for services are both tied to aspects of demand the nmber of stdents in the first case and the amont of service provided in the other and therefore might seem more attractive bases for the help desk bdget. The fact that so few instittions se them sggests that IT help desk services are generally viewed as a common good item and instittions are relctant to allow financial considerations to come between the clients and the assistance they need. Not srprisingly, in the rapidly expanding and evolving area of IT, it is difficlt to provide on a fixed income all the services the client commnity needs. In fact, more than half of or respondents told s their fnding is inadeqate. Nor shold we be srprised that adeqate bdgets were reported least commonly among instittions where the overall climate was one of decreasing bdgets. Like the U.S. Marines, help desk staff may be entitled to think of themselves as The EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research 63

8 40% 35% 35.6 Figre 6-6. Agreement That Camps Expectations and Help Desk Resorces Are Aligned (N = 447) Percentage of Instittions 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% % 4.7 0% Strongly disagree Disagree Netral Agree Strongly agree Level of Agreement Table 6-5. Adeqacy of Help Desk Fnding, Agreement That Camps Expectations and Help Desk Resorces Are Aligned Agreement That Expectations and Resorces Are Aligned N Mean* Std. Deviation Strongly disagree Disagree Netral Agree Strongly agree Total * Scale: 1 = mch less than adeqate, 2 = less than adeqate, 3 = adeqate, 4 = more than adeqate, 5 = mch more than adeqate Few. The Prod. Among or respondents, more than three-qarters of help desks have 10 employees or fewer, thogh most serve instittions with thosands of potential clients. While the mean nmber of help desk staff increases with instittion size, it does not keep pace. In general, the larger the instittion, the more potential clients each help desk staff member faces. Respondents split into two camps on whether camps expectations of the help desk were aligned with help desk resorces; fewer than a qarter of respondents were netral on the topic. Not srprisingly, those who felt more strongly that help desk fnding was adeqate were more likely to agree that camps expectations of the help desk were aligned with resorces the help desk cold draw pon. 64