Richard Erik Scott
University of Pittsburgh
Department of Computer Science
I enjoyed the challenge of developing a cooperative education program at Computing Services and Systems Development (CSSD) within the University of Pittsburgh. CSSD previously had no exposure to the benefits of the Co-Op program. I was able to help lay the ground work for the Co-Op program at CSSD and set a precedence for future Co-Op students. Being part of the initiating group of computer science cooperative education students and the first student to work for Computing Services and Systems Development was very demanding. However, these demands came with great rewards. My unique Co-Op situation enabled me to obtain a new understanding of the every day business practices of the world. I quickly came to realize that without this understanding of business practices my technological skill would be of no use. During my three rotations I acquired knowledge of business politics, managerial skills and customer service practices along with exposure to many areas of computing technology. Some examples of these areas are computer networking, application development, system administration and direct technical support.
Rotation
One (January 1998 - May 1998)
My
first rotation provided me with the perfect balance of technical and
business skills. I began working at CSSD in the capacity of Help
Desk Analyst. During the first months of my employment I worked in a
call center atmosphere. As I worked to solve customers' problems my technological skills rapidly
grew and my customer
service and communications skills improved. After demonstrating my knowledge
of computers with my work in the call center, I was moved to the consulting area of Computing
Services. In this area, I worked directly with University faculty
and staff members providing computer consultations and
recommendations. One of the most exciting elements
of this rotation was my participation in the development of a twenty four
hour computing support model for the University. Until this new
policy took place the University only offered computer support between
the hours of 08:30 and 17:00. After the implementation of the new
support model, computing support was made available to all University faculty,
staff and students twenty four hours a day. By working with various colleagues
Rotation
Two (August 1998 - December 1998)
My second rotation was a direct extension of the first and it began at the onset of the new twenty four hour support model. Because of the skills I demonstrated during my first rotation and the need for a system of management that would coincide with the new twenty four hour model, I was made one of the four newly appointed help desk supervisors. This was an exciting rotation for me because I was given the responsibility of managing student employees, maximizing customer satisfaction and handling all customer service issues. I was also able to increase my technical knowledge by researching the technical issues my employees brought to me.
Rotation
Three (May 1999 - August 1999)
My third and final rotation was very different from the others. It was also my personal favorite and the most rewarding. I was placed on the Remedy (http://www.remedy.com) system development team. Unlike my previous rotations, my work on the Remedy system was very independent. I had to adapt to working on components of problems that would eventually need to be integrated with components that other team members developed.
The Remedy Action Request System is a flexible foundation for automating complex business processes and is used by more than 60 percent of Fortune 100 companies. Knowledge of its workings is a very marketable skill. Computing Service and Systems Development uses Remedy to maintain all support service requests, change management issues, major service outages and to populate the University's knowledge base, UPLINK (http://support.pitt.edu). My work on the remedy system included the upgrade of the server code from 3.2 to 4.0.2, the introduction of the major service outage work flow system, the integration of Remedy and the Palm Pilot and the integration of Remedy and Microsoft Exchange. I also developed a web server that permits all of the University to access Remedy to submit problem requests (viewable at http://www.help.cis.pitt.edu/ars/cgi-bin/arweb.exe?Form=useschema&s=helpdesk.cis.pitt.edu&S=Pitt-Call+Ticket&Act=Submit) and allows CSSD employees to use all of Remedy's functionality over the world wide web (viewable at http://www.help.cis.pitt.edu).
My relationship with CSSD has been extremely beneficial. In fact, the experience I have gained from this Co-Op has enabled me to obtain an internship position at a technology firm in London, England. I highly recommend both the cooperative education program and Computing Services and Systems Development.