At the end of March, the ResNet offices will be moved out of the Freeman building, and two new ResNet Service Hubs will likely be established on East and West campus. Campus Services and Housing plan to use the second floor of Britain Dining Hall, while the Curran Street Parking Deck will hold the other service hub near the Westside Market.
Currently, ResNet has office hours Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. With this change in location, there will also be a change in hours and that transition will have a member of the ResNet team available from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every week day.
Once the offices move out, ResNet Services will remain in Freeman until the end of the Spring Semester, and the East campus service hub should be available. By fall, the West campus service hub near Curran Parking Deck will also be available.
Campus Services and Housing made the relocation decision for student convenience and James Pete, the Senior Director of Campus Services-Information Technology Group, believes these changes will be more beneficial to the student body who need assistance with technological issues.
“It’s a change in our service delivery model, so we will now have a presence on East along with still a presence on West. We will be closer to our customers to assist you with whatever technical needs there are, and we are going to reorient our hours to times where students will need us as well as add more educational components concerning devices and programs,” Pete said.
The ResNet Service Hubs will be similar to Genius Bar service at most Apple stores, but services will remain similar to the current ResNet under the Freeman building. Along with educational services regarding programs and devices, additional services are planned for the new hubs, such as a loaning process during laptop remediation.
“Along with cable and electronics, we will do some remediation work around laptop support, particularly with viruses, and we’re making a change with that as well,” Pete said. “Originally, people who required that service had to stay with their machine in the office until the work was done, but soon, we are going to set up a loaner laptop pool so that students will not have to stay, which is good because some virus removals can be long.”
Because the Georgia Tech Cable Network plans to occupy the offices under Freeman, there is pressure to rush parts of this new plan for ResNet. While services will not be inhibited, the dates of operation for these two hubs will be different.
Pete points to planning and construction as an obstacle in these changes as they move forward.
“It’s more about orchestrating the constructions, and we’re not ready to the point where we can say start,” Pete said. “We have to be out of our location really out of spring break, so that the team behind us which is the Georgia Tech Cable Network can move in by the end of March. It’s important that we get out of that space by that time. For them to leave North Ave, we have to leave Freeman.”
With broader accessibility, Pete believes that the student body will reach a better experience with ResNet and solve any issues they come across.
“My hope is that you’re going to find us much more accessible because we will have the two locations,” Pete said. “We will still have all of the other opportunities for contact, such as the call, chat and e-mail based support, but more importantly, students can come in person from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. each week day.”