Rifat Rahman has witnessed students who live and take classes on South Campus struggle to get to North Campus for their computer-related problems since her freshman year.
The UBIT Help Center recently added to South Campus looks to alleviate that problem.
Abbott Hall’s UBIT Center, which shares a space with the printing center in the Health Sciences Library (HSL), now gives students on South Campus a convenient place to seek support with technical problems. Until this semester, there has only been one UBIT Help Center at UB, located in the Lockwood Cybrary.
“We used to get a lot of calls from students [who live] on South and they would be really frustrated having to come to North because they’re so busy,” Rahman, a junior biological sciences major and student worker at both UBIT Help Centers, said.
Barbara Vasbinder, IT customer service manager of UBIT Help Center, said the UBIT Help Centers on North and South Campuses assist students, faculty and staff with IT problems including UBIT password issues, technical issues, wireless access problems and network issues.
“If you need to come in person to prove identity to reset your UBIT password, it is inconvenient to have to travel from South to North to do that,” Vasbinder said. “We listened to our customers and this is something we have wanted to do for a while.”
Although South Campus houses fewer students than North Campus, there are many medical and pharmacy graduate students who study there and experience just as many IT problems as do the students on North Campus, according to Rahman.
Vasbinder said that having a Help Center on South Campus makes it easier for these students due to the lesser travel time, especially in the winter.
Jonathan Whited, a senior biomedical sciences major who also works at UBIT, said he knows when students need help getting their computer connected to UB’s internet networks, they often have to bring their computer with them.
“It’s easier to bring the computer over to South rather than all the way to North if you live here,” Whited said.
Students may think that the Help Center only exists for UB-related issues, but Rahman and Vasbinder want students to know they will help with any network and technical issues.
All guests are welcome to receive help at the UBIT Center, not just faculty and students.
“Today if people are having troubles with their devices they do a lot of self-help but we are also available if you are close by and having a problem with email, phone or getting a wireless signal. You can just drop into one of our help centers,” Vasbinder said.
Many students spend their time studying at HSL and a lot of their technical issues happen during this time, Rahman said.
Kori Hughes is a news staff writer. News desk can be reached at news@ubspectrum.com.
