NUIT Support Center Service Level Agreement

I. SLA Purpose

The purpose of this Service Level Agreement is to define:

• the services that are provided by the NUIT Support Center to the faculty, staff and students of Northwestern University
• the contact information for the NUIT Support Center
• the method in which support will be provided
• the timeframe in which faculty, staff and students can expect a response

II. NUIT Support Center

Contact Information

Phone: (847) 491-HELP (4357)
E-mail: consultant@northwestern.edu

Location

The NUIT Support Center is located at 1800 Sherman Ave, Suite 1-300

Hours

Standard Support Hours

Walk-in and Phone Support:
Monday through Thursday: 8:00 a.m to 8:00 p.m.

Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Saturday: 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Sunday: 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Winter/Spring/Summer Break Support Hours

Walk-in and Phone Support:
Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Closed Saturday and Sunday

Response Time

The NUIT Support Center has two to five representatives available during standard support hours to answer requests for support. This is a sufficient number to answer most requests at the time of client contact.

All requests for support that come to the NUIT Support Center via e-mail are worked on within three business days (Monday through Friday) of receipt of the request. Requests for assistance on problems related to university business are addressed as soon as possible.

The time period for resolution of an issue varies depending upon the complexity of the problem.

III. Services Provided

Software Assistance

The NUIT Support Center provides best effort assistance for the software products listed at http://www.it.northwestern.edu/software/index.html. Best effort support is defined here as assistance installing and removing the product, as well as limited usage instruction. NUIT will support the current version and at least one previous version of the titles listed. Please contact the NUIT Support Center for questions on whether or not your version is supported.

Some departments, divisions, or schools use specialized software that is not supported by NUIT. Requests for support with this software should be directed to local technical support providers.

Laptop ER

Laptop ER provides support for Northwestern University faculty, staff and students at various locations on campus.

This service is an effort by NUIT to expand technical support services to the Northwestern University community in a convenient and efficient manner. Users should continue to call the NUIT Support Center for basic assistance and use the Laptop ER for hands-on support of laptop computers and NetID password issues that cannot be resolved over the telephone.

A complete Service Level Agreement for Laptop ERs can be found at http://www.it.northwestern.edu/laptoper

Other Services

Northwestern and NUIT provide many technical services. The list of supported services changes as new services are incorporated and obsolete services are removed. This document will be updated regularly in order to maintain the most current list of supported services.

The NUIT Support Center currently provides support of the following:

• NetID activation
• NetID password resets
• Northwestern e-mail account problems
• Questions or problems received via e-mail to the following addresses:
  • consultant@northwestern.edu
  • caesar@northwestern.edu
  • nutv@northwestern.edu
  • action@casbah.it.northwestern.edu
  • action@hecky.it.northwestern.edu
  • action@lulu.it.northwestern.edu
  • action@merle.it.northwestern.edu
• Server/Service
  • CAESAR Blackboard
  • Webmail
  • Listserv
  • The NUPortal
  • InfoEd
  • eIRB
  • SIS
• Network/Connection
  • Netpass troubleshooting
  • Wireless configuration and troubleshooting
  • VPN client installation, configuration and troubleshooting
• Virus/Security
  • Virus and malware troubleshooting and removal
• Front-line desktop support for other units

Network Connectivity

The NUIT Support Center provides assistance connecting to the Northwestern network via an ethernet or wireless connection.

The NUIT Support Center is not responsible for troubleshooting networks outside of Northwestern's network. Callers are referred to their local Internet Service Providers if it is concluded that their connectivity issues are not related to the Northwestern University network.

General Computing

The information detailed above describes the minimal level of support the faculty, staff and students of Northwestern University should expect from the NUIT Support Center . As time and knowledge allow, the NUIT Support Center will assist with general computing problems not specifically mentioned above.

IV. Support for other Technical Units

Distributed Support Services (DSS)

DSS provides technical support to staff and faculty working on University-owned machines on a for-fee basis. Users may call in to the NUIT Support Center to request assistance from DSS.

Project Café

The NUIT Support Center provides level one triage support for Project Café's InfoEd system.

The NUPortal

The NUIT Support Center provides level one triage support for The NUPortal system.

University Network of Information Technology Specialists (UNITS)

UNITS representatives or other local technology support staff often function as the point of first contact for their faculty and staff clients. They in turn may request help from the NUIT Support Center , either as a standard procedure or upon individual request. UNITS representatives may direct their clients to call the NUIT Support Center with certain problems while asking that other problems be logged and sent directly to them. Divisions or departments without a UNITS representative can contact the NUIT Support Center directly.

V. Performance Monitoring

Quantitative and qualitative measures are used to determine how well the NUIT Support Center is meeting the responsibilities detailed in this agreement.

Call Tracking

All requests for support are logged in the Customer Request System by the NUIT Support Center personnel. This tracking system allows for reporting to be done on the data collected.

Customer Satisfaction Survey

Upon completion of a support request, an e-mail is sent to the user with a link to our NUIT Support Center Feedback survey.

The results of this survey are compiled quarterly, allowing us to better assess areas where improvement is needed.

VI. Expectations

NUIT Support Center Expectations of Northwestern Faculty, Staff and Students

Before making a request for support, Northwestern faculty, staff and students are expected to take the following steps. If these steps have not been completed, NUIT Support Center personnel will ask the user to perform the steps relevant to the problem.

• Reboot the machine
• Make sure all power, network, and peripheral cables are plugged in properly
• Make sure all components are turned on (monitor, system unit, etc.)
• Record the exact text of any error messages received
• Have any relevant details about the computer at hand (operating system, software being used, special configurations, etc.)

If possible, the user should be at the machine when requesting support.

NUIT Support Center personnel are able to best assist users when they remain courteous.

Northwestern Faculty, Staff and Student Expectations of the NUIT Support Center

• Courteous and professional service
• NUIT Support Center personnel make no assumptions about caller's technical expertise
• If a NUIT Support Center consultant does not know the solution to a problem, he or she consults with other NUIT Support Center personnel before attempting to solve a problem
• Assurance of assistance: The NUIT Support Center provides support for the services detailed in this agreement; if requests for support are received on services that NUIT does not support, we do our best to provide assistance or a referral to an external resource (referrals to external resources are not endorsements of that resource)