Student Technology Assistants - STA+ (Large) Programs from TLT Group

Some institutions have STA programs far beyond most others.   

STA Wildlife video project - URI

Many institutions use student assistants to assist in their computing labs and provide other technology services at a modest level:

• Raising the quality and level of technical service within the institution and 
• Providing exceptional educational opportunities to the participating students.

These outstanding STA+ programs differ in many ways, but share most of these characteristics:

• Demonstrably improve the level and quality of information technology support services at dramatically lower cost than any other option; 
• Train many students in technical, consulting and organizational skills; 
• Rely on (and develop) the ability of students to supervise, train, and manage other students; 
• Include students from both technical and non-technical majors; 
• Provide service learning options for participating students; 
• Allow many students to experience the benefits of "learning by teaching"; and 
• Enable many technology support professionals to spend more time providing services that make better use of their expertise. 

 The TLT Group has encouraged, enabled, and collaborated with leaders in this "movement" since 1997.  FAQs

A few Websites describing current Student Technology Assistant Programs as of July, 2011:

• Brown University
• Cornell University
• Johnson C. Smith University
• Univ. Texas Austin
• Trinity College (Hartford, Conn) FaceBook Page
• SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
• Seton Hall University
• William Paterson University
• Univ. of Rhode Island - Wildlife video projects produced in conjunction with STA program
• Student Technology Assistant Clearinghouse - William Paterson Univ. 
• University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Student Technology Services, EDUCAUSE Exemplary Practices in Information Technology Solutions 2001 Award Winners
• Students in Charge: Milwaukee's Student Technology Services by Jennifer Smith NEWSLETTER: VOL V, #1, October 15, 1999
• Student Technology Assistants - 33 Resources | EDUCAUSE

The STA Workbook. This resource contains a variety of worksheets, examples, and forms useful for creating, diversifying, and enriching STA programs.  For more info about the STA Workbook and related resources, contact sallygilbert@tltgroup.org

Image: 

Photo of groundhog eating leaf

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Groundhog%2C_eating.jpg

By D. Gordon E. Robertson (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL