Everyone on campus has gone to the Help Desk at least once – but probably a handful of times – while at Saint Anselm College. HawkNet helps with everything network related; from helping set up that all-important internet connection, to helping recover accidentally deleted files, to giving out a can of condensed air for when you think the reason your ‘9’ key sticks is because there may be a piece of strawberry Poptart stuck underneath it. Okay, that last one may be a little rare (or only pertain to my experience), but that doesn’t matter: the HawkNet team is always there to try and help in whatever way they can. Plus, going to the IT Desk is free; going to Apple or Best Buy is more likely to hurt your bank account.   

However, changes have come to the IT Help Desk. No longer open on the weekends, the IT Help Desk is available Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Last year, the Help Desk was open for an extra two hours from Monday through Thursday–meaning 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., instead of the new 4:30 p.m. closing time, and their weekend shift ran on Sunday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

“On one hand, it is unfortunate that the Help Desk isn’t open as long, but on the other hand, we rarely had customers coming in after 4:30 p.m.,” said senior Computer Science Major, David Parker, who has worked for HawkNet since his freshman year,

Change can be unnerving, and especially with so many changes happening on campus this year, hearing a shift in hours may have sounded more daunting than it actually is. The hours eliminated were simply the hours during which the Help Desk was not attending to the student body with their technical issues anyway.  

When asked if the changes altered his feelings towards working for HawkNet, Parker was quick to comment.  

“I love working for HawkNet. It is a great place to work where I meet tons of great people and help them in their day to day lives. This sentiment has not changed this year. We are still the Help Desk, and will gladly help anyone with their devices to the best of our ability.”

Interaction with students is a major aspect of the HawkNet position. The staff believe that it is important for students to feel comfortable bringing their laptops to the Help Desk, and understand that their fellow students working behind the desk are trained and able to help fix any problems.  

In order to make sure that the Help Desk is as reliable as possible, the HawkNet workers had to participate in a week-long training over the summer before classes started. This is something that the HawkNet employees have been doing for the past few years.

Parker was a huge part of that training and said: “As HawkNet Director, I had the pleasure of running and facilitating the week of training prior to the start of the academic year. It is always a wonderful time, where new hires are able to learn the skills necessary to work at the Help Desk and veterans are able to brush up on the skills they may not have needed to apply in the previous year.”

For the student body, it does not seem that these changes in hours will have a negative impact, nor will they have a large impact on the day-to-day ongoings of campus life.

However, the changes may have made it a little difficult for the HawkNet workers to get the hours they had in mind. Students with full class schedules, or those studying in majors that take them off campus during parts of the week, relied on the Sunday shift that is no longer available. These students are at risk of having to give up a job that they may have had for three years, and miss out on the Federal Work Study they were rewarded.