Student workers and equipment lending – improving service provision

With many college and university media centers relying on student workers to support their operation, it’s important that the scheduling software systems in place are compatible with this staffing model. When there’s valuable equipment being handed out on loan, student workers need to be able to work in a way that ensures mistakes are avoided. Supervisors may not always be available to check or authorize equipment lending to each customer, and student workers need to have failsafe systems behind them.

Supporting student workers for better functioning teams

Of course, one of the great things about using student workers is that the equipment checkout service can be staffed over longer opening hours making resources far more accessible to students and staff. However, a high turnover of shifts tend to present communication challenges between workers, where important details on equipment condition at point of checkout or return could be lost.

Teams of 10 or more student workers are not uncommon yet sticky notes or basic spreadsheets are often still relied upon – all falling well short of an effective method to communicate to supervisors about missing cables, broken lenses or worse! With a lot of different customer equipment needs to support and inevitably some communication issues, there’s usually much room for improvement…

A system that supports better team working

By having the right software to support efficient inventory management, reservations and checkout activity, student workers are able to provide much better levels of service. This is why Connect2 has been developed – already it has over 150 colleges and universities relying on it to support their equipment lending operations.

With Connect2, workers know what to prepare in advance of pick up (just like a ‘click and collect’ service) and can retrieve reservation details the instant each customer arrives. Meanwhile, managers are kept better informed of resource usage plus any repairs, maintenance or replacements that are required.

Connect2 supports better team communication and helps less experienced staff avoid mistakes. It empowers student workers while alleviating managers from administrative overload. Read on to hear more about how this works…

How Connect2 delivers

Connect2 is an equipment checkout and tracking system that is ideal in this scenario. It’s quick to pick up, with minimal staff training required. It’s been specifically developed for academic media stores and is proven to be indispensable in a student worker environment. Here’s how it helps:

• The system automatically recognizes who is permitted to borrow each resource. Integration to the student database makes it impossible for staff using Connect2 to issue equipment to unauthorized borrowers
• It supports varying levels of authority and responsibility, so student workers can checkout or in equipment for a fast professional service, but with override and administrative functions provided only to those staff with a more senior role
• Student workers with more experience or training can be given system permissions to exercise some discretion in a supervisory capacity e.g. to enable them to extend loan periods. Connect2 can be set up accordingly to provide these exact roles

• It enables permissioned workers to change the ‘status’ of resources, e.g. to broken or lost, and to add notes in the system, so that a central online record is kept of any issues as items are checked in or out. And it’s easy to take damaged items ‘out of service’ in Connect2, preventing them from being checked out accidentally later on (see screengrab below)
• A dashboard of all scheduled and completed checkout/in activity enables managers to monitor the desk remotely while working elsewhere. They can see how well their team is coping during periods of heavier traffic. They can also plan ahead and adjust staffing rotas if needed
• An enduring record is kept of all equipment lending activity, so that it’s always known who has got each item at any time regardless of who performed the checkout. The student worker simply checks in and out each item using a barcode scanner, and the information is stored in the online system for tracking and reporting

A proven system for college equipment lending

So Connect2 supports better team communication and helps less experienced staff avoid mistakes. It empowers student workers while alleviating managers from administrative overload.

By enabling student workers to operate efficiently in the checkout store, they maintain a good level of professionalism and derive greater satisfaction from their work. The inventory information in Connect2 also helps them learn about the equipment under management – so they have the opportunity to become more knowledgeable, supporting them with any related studies. At the same time, managers can access useful data and overviews of all checkouts and usage, supporting them in managing a well-organized operation.

Learn more about Connect2

Connect2 is designed for colleges and universities to showcase equipment and resources, manage inventory and offer students an easy to use online reservation facility. It’s easy to set up with all the permissions and roles you need to suit every staffing model, and is proven to enhance services in a student worker equipment checkout environment.