I am a new voice here in the Iron Warrior, so let me introduce myself. I am the Engineering Computing Co-op student for the winter term. I work with the staff that keep our undergraduate labs, printers, wireless internet, remote desktop, email service, and Nexus up and running for the entire Engineering faculty. This is my second co-op term here, and I am getting the opportunity to focus more on improving the student experience. I’m hoping to get feedback on changes to the computing system that can be made to benefit the student body.
Over the last two weeks, the Engineering Computing Department has been meeting with students and engineering society members to discuss prominent issues with the services provided and the undergraduate laboratories. There has been a lot of useful feedback and ideas, and the staff and I have really appreciated receiving some different perspectives.
The issue that caught my eye that several students reported is that broken computers and printers often go unnoticed by staff and are not fixed promptly. The problem lies in the error reporting system, as most broken hardware goes unreported, and as such, is not inspected. There are two ways to currently report hardware issues. One is through the Nexus login screen – there is a link titled “Hardware Problems”, and the other is by reporting the problem directly to the Engineering Computing Help Desk, located at E2-1308C
I have put together a 5-minute web survey for engineering students to complete, that could help Engineering Computing and myself develop an improved error reporting system, and to get further feedback on other issues regarding computing in the faculty. The survey can be found at: www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/ComputingSurvey.
Thanks in advance to all that complete the survey. I am hoping to write back with new developments and updates, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled!
This project received ethics clearance through the Office of Research ethics.
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