Students receive tech training
Student Technology Training is a new, student-managed program that provides support for student employees.
Kara Sewell, the STT manager, said, “We provide coordinated training to help student employees deliver technical support to [Utah State University].”
Employees will learn technology that will assist them in their selected fields. About 130 student employees will profit from STT each semester, she said.
“There are five departments that are supported by STT: Classroom Technical Services, University Media Production, Student Lab Services, Operations, and Help Desk,” Sewell said.
The student employees of the five departments are members of STT. All students are welcome to apply for jobs in each department and benefit from STT, she said.
Each month, the program holds a training workshop to assist students with their employment and give them a chance to use information they learn in their classes, Sewell said.
The workshops range from both technical and life skills, such as hardware and software support, application and troubleshooting. They also include leadership and management skills like communication, evaluation and project management, she said.
Stacy Thornock, a junior broadcasting electronics major, is a student manager for STT supervising University Media Productions.
“This program helps students by giving them the training they will need in their future jobs,” she said. “This type of training is good, because you will never get this level of training in your classrooms.”
Josh West, a junior majoring in business information systems is also an STT student manager.
“I would encourage STT because, although it is a new program and we’re unsure of where it will lead, it offers great potential,” he said. “Students can gain a variety of skills that their teachers can only talk about in class. Through STT, we can put these skills into practice.”
Rachael Bonitz, a sophomore psychology major, supports the STT program but thinks the workshops should be open to all students on campus.
“I believe that the skills that are being taught in the workshops are essential for everyone to know and learn and they should not just be exclusive to employed students,” she said.
Sewell said, “We are putting together advertisements with the marketing department. There is going to be a Web site that students can go to if they want to learn when and where training will be held for each department in STT.”
Training will be Oct. 12, then again Nov. 9.
-stacipete@cc.usu.edu