The ever-changing world of computing can be confusing for even the most technically inclined. Through cooperation with Student Government, the Office of Computing Services and the Center for Academic Success, students can receive computer training on-campus free of charge.
START — short for Student Technical, Application and Resource Training — is paid for with the student technology fee collected each semester.
The fee, which is $75 per semester for a full-time student, amounts to an estimated $4.4 million. Fifty-seven thousand dollars of that funded the START program.
The program offers two tracks, the first of which is an applications track that offers training on applications that students frequently use. The second track, a week-long technical track in which students are intensively trained in Windows XP, Microsoft Active Directory, Networking and Linux, takes place three times a year during the semester breaks.
According to Melissa Brocato, the director of START’s applications track, the program employs between 10 and 12 student trainers each semester, most of whom are ISDS, computer science or graphic design majors. Students of all majors, however, are welcome to fill out an application on the program’s Web site.
“We recently sent an e-mail out to former student workers to see if the program has benefitted them,” Brocato said. “The response was overwhelmingly positive.”
Greg Brignac, the manager of training and development for the Office of Computing Services, leads the START program’s technical track.
“The [technical track] is geared toward those who want to operate in a technical support capacity,” Brignac said. “We’ve changed the program a lot simply because technology changes.”
Brignac also said OCS personnel instruct the courses in the technical track, volunteering their time to teach classes dealing with their specific areas of expertise.
“START is meant to complement the courses at LSU,” said Karen Sirman, assistant director of OCS’s technical support group. “It enhances students’ ability to [be] successful in their courses and learn new technology.”
START is free to all students and more information is
available on its Web site at www.lsu.edu/start.