Schooling our consultants for a sea of residents

Residential IT Services (RITS) at Indiana University serves the network technology needs of 12,000 residents living in campus housing on two core campuses. The 60 student consultants who join our work-force each fall arrive with energy and enthusiasm but with varying degrees of technical skills. Our task is to train the consultants in four days of intensive training and then unleash them on the residential community with the expectation that approximately 12,000 residents will be connected to the IU network in just five days. Training for this level of intensity resembles, on the one hand, a carefully and tightly orchestrated symphony; on the other hand, it bears similarity to a fishing expedition in which "the charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of that which is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope." (Anonymous) Over the past four years we have revised and refined our fall training program combining lecture, hands-on, games, obstacle courses, videos and written materials. We've also added mid-year training programs and a RITS FAQ. My presentation will outline improvements made to the program over the past few years as well as plans for the future. Participants should walk away from this presentation with many new ideas on training and maintaining student expertise.