RTA Position Description

Position Objectives

Specific Duties

1. Be involved as an active member of both your dorm staff and the DirectConnect staff.
2. Help coordinate and supervise Volunteer Technology Assistants at the beginning of the semester.
3. Train and educate residents in the use of DirectConnect (the contracted Internet Service Provider), DCO provided software, and Residence Hall lab PCs.
4. Facilitate the use of computer technology as an educational resource by offering workshops in Residence Halls.
5. Maintain weekly office hours at the DirectConnect office in 107 Turner Hall, maintain evening on-call hours to assist all Residence Life residents with technology.
6. Maintain an approved appointment sign-up system for students to receive in-room assistance during your required nights on duty.
7. The RTA must be available to assist students outside of their office hours on a “reasonable availability basis” while balancing their personal time, study time, and classes.  Lack of appropriate availability may necessitate more formal procedures.
8. The RTA shall not be absent from campus for more than three weekends per semester. The RTA Coordinators or other supervisor must authorize any absence from campus longer than three (3) days.
9. Monitor and maintain the functionality of Residence Life computer labs.
10. Troubleshoot and complete cable television work orders and provide assistance with problems related to the cable television system in Residence Life housing, including replacing wall plates and possibly cable jacks.
11. Troubleshoot and complete telephone work orders and provide assistance with problems related to the telephone system.
12. Utilize campus resources to solve problems, answer questions and refer problems to appropriate individuals if the RTA cannot achieve a solution.
13. Attend weekly dorm staff meetings and weekly RTA staff meetings as well as in-services as deemed necessary.
14. Attend mandatory pre-semester training.
15. Establish and oversee a DirectConnect bulletin board in their assigned hall(s); keeping all information up-to-date and accurate.  Provide weekly updates and continuing information to keep the board fresh and readable.  It will be necessary to provide copies of all postings to the RTA Media Team.
16. Report known or suspect abuses of computing / technology resources to the Manager of IT.
17. Keep open communication with the Residence Life Office staff and suggest improvements for the DirectConnect program and other technology within Residence Life and the Division of Student Affairs.
18. Provide Work / Duty logs to the RTA Coordinators on a weekly basis.
19. Accurately update timecard daily.
20. Other related duties as necessary.

 Each RTA also participates in at least one of the following focused teams:

RTA Media Team

• Manage the Dorm Entertainment Network, the DirectConnect Office’s internal cable channel. Manage the announcement slide show and any video footage.  This includes both creating slides with given information as well as posting slides provided by sources outside the DirectConnect Office.
• Select content for the DEN’s video nights.
• Write articles for and maintain The 404, the DirectConnect print newsletter for Residence Life.
  Write articles for and maintain UserNews, the DirectConnect electronic newsletter for Student Affairs users.
• Maintain the DirectConnect website at http://www.umt.edu/DCO.
• Create and distribute flyers for DCO-related Residence Hall topics to be posted in Residence Life housing and on the RTA bulletin boards.

RTA Departmental Support Team

• Maintain weekly contact with assigned departments within the Division of Student Affairs.  These hours will be determined in consultation with the Information Technology Specialist at the start of the semester.
• Respond to technical support requests from departmental staff within 24 hours of receipt.
• Troubleshoot and repair, or otherwise address technical issues for Student Affairs users, prioritizing requests via the CASS IT Request system.

RTA System Administrator Support Team

• Help maintain and support Student Affairs print servers.
• Monitor the Student Affairs antivirus server and alert relevant parties in the event of viral activity.
• Help manage the Citrix server, which hosts Student Affairs labs and kiosks.
• Use administrative tools such as the Citrix Management Console and Windows Remote Desktop to help users troubleshoot issues.

RTA Mechanic Team

• Implement a system to check-in resident machines, keeping accurate records of any modifications or adjustments made.  This system must also be responsible for ensuring that residents receive their own machines back in a timely fashion.  This system should be well known amongst all RTAs in the office in order to be effective.
• Troubleshoot and diagnose resident machines, repairing if necessary.  Machines may have any number of problems or other issues prohibiting their operation.  The RTA Mechanic Team must determine the problem out of a wide variety of mal-ware, viruses, faulty OS, hardware issues, and user configuration errors.  After the problem is detected, team members will either repair, or in a scenario where this is not possible, advise and refer the resident to an appropriate entity.
• It is also the responsibility of the Machine Team to keep up to date on mal-ware / virus programs as they appear over the online security community so that they may be effective in handling them on resident’s machines.

RTA Internal Programming Team

• Creation, maintenance and upgrading of software for internal use by RTAs and other DirectConnect Office staff.
• Creation, maintenance and upgrading of software for external use by customers.
• Continually streamlining the DirectConnect Signup Process, including software distributed to residents, and the account management software.

Term of Position
The term of position runs during the academic year from approximately one week before the opening of residence halls for Fall Semester until the closing day of residence halls for Spring Semester.  Positions will be renewed on a yearly basis depending on program objectives and individual performance of the RTA.  RTAs will receive information regarding re-hiring for the subsequent academic year before the end of spring semester. 

Stipend / Compensation
Each RTA shall work on average 24 hours per week and shall be compensated with an award to cover a residence hall room in the assigned building and a campus meal plan. The total amount of compensation will be reflected as a schedule bill credit to be equally disbursed each semester.  Applicants must contact the Financial Aid Office to determine the impact on their financial aid.  DirectConnect data access and voicemail will be provided free of charge to the RTA.

Hiring and Conditions of Employment
RTA hiring for the upcoming academic year will typically occur before the end of spring semester.  Related experience, ability to perform the tasks contained within this job description, and availability are taken into consideration.  As a condition of employment, the RTA must be enrolled as a full time student, but limit his/her course work to a maximum of 18 credit hours (12 credit hours for graduate students) and maintain at least a semester and cumulative grade point average of 2.25.  The RTA must complete at least 12 semester undergraduate or 9 graduate credits each semester.  Staff members who do not perform according to the standards outlined in this document may be terminated.

The RTA may not secure or retain other assistantships or part-time employment without consent of the Residence Life Office.  Total hours worked may not exceed 39 hours per week.

Training Received
Training provided by the Manager of IT, RTA Coordinators and Information Technology Central (ITC) will lay a foundation of knowledge for the RTA to work productively in the position.  RTAs are required to attend intensive training sessions each semester to occur approximately one week before the opening day of residence halls.  On-going training will take place at regular RTA staff meetings and in-service training sessions.

Attitude and Commitment

1. Cooperate with other RTAs, Residence Hall staff, and University staff in the Division of Student Affairs in decision-making and problem resolution.
2. Show a positive attitude by demonstrating initiative, dependability, and responsibility.
3. Be aware that you are a representative of the University both within and outside of the campus.
4. Continue to self-educate on new technologies, software, etc. through classes, training sessions, and workshops.
5. Project a positive, courteous, and helpful attitude toward students, visitors, and staff.  A pleasant and professional attitude should be evident while assisting residents with problems. 
6. Be patient.  A question that an RTA may feel is obvious or “stupid” is important to the person asking it.  Be professional!
7. At no time should you provide assistance while under the influence of alcohol or other substances.  Doing so will result in automatic termination of the position.
8. As a staff member, an RTA must be a positive role model.  Behavioral issues or failure to abide by the Student Conduct Code will result in review and possible termination.
9. The only acceptable reasons for missing scheduled meeting and/or appointments are illness or other acceptable emergencies.  Please contact the Manager of IT or RTA Coordinators if you have an appropriate reason.

Student Property

1. A resident must be present at all times when it is necessary to be in a student’s room for a consultation.  When working in a resident’s room, the RTA must keep the door open at all times.
2. When assisting with a software problem talk the student through the solution rather than doing it for them.
3. Guidelines for the proper scope of assisting residents with their computer will be discussed more fully and developed as needed.