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Attending: Brian Bell, Benjamin Barenblat, Liz Denys, Alex Dehnert, Manjul Sahay

I. The W20 cluster

IS&T concerns: Space is under-utilizied. Students clearly want more laptop space, as they frequently unplug monitors and keyboards.

Discussion:

  • Monitor, power, network are the most important concerns for laptop users.
  • Maybe something like the TEAL rooms, but with semicircular tables for group work, with movable monitor arms.
  • Group study area is under-advertised, yet Reading Room (and Lobby) frequently fill up
  • Maybe we should move the Windows machines to the front room, and use the entire back space for small group/laptop spaces

Outcome: IS&T will investigate furniture and measurements

II. MS Office

  • It's used infrequently (or only Word is used), so paying more than $50 is not desirable, even if the discounted price is significantly cheaper than retail. $10-$50 price range would be good.

III. The IS&T Website - Student page (http://ist.mit.edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/students)

  • Nobody knew it existed
  • The "First steps" are not helpful - people already know how to do that, because they have to
  • Listing student-specific software would be great.
  • Remove the link to Stellar - nobody goes there to explore, they go there when their TA tells them to.
  • Hardware Discounts
    • At first glance, they seem really expensive. Macs are more expensive, but the Dells come with better warranties, yet that information is not publicized
    • Most people come in with their hardware/model preferences, and merely want to see what the MIT discount is, as opposed to coming in saying "What specific model does MIT recommend?"
      • This is particularly true for grad students, as they're less likely to have their laptops purchased for them by their parents
    • Having some sub-$1000 laptops would help
    • Having a large link saying "Don't see what you're looking for? Go here" to the Dell or ECAT catalog would be great.
  • Mobile Devices
    • Most students don't know they exist. Students tend to assume they can get a discount on a laptop or software as a student, they don't assume the same of cell phone plans
    • Most undergrads with phones are on a family plan – detailed info about how the discounts interact with family plans would help
    • Nearby locations of retail stores would help
  • Basically, a "Show me all the free/cheap stuff I can get now that I'm a student" page would help

There is discussion of "course.mit.edu" as a great site, because it's simple, fast, and gets students where they want to go immediately.

The IS&T front page is confusing, and busy, and should have a large: "Student? Click here" link at the top to take them to the student page.

Certificates:

  • Cert front page is hard to find; MIT CA is hard to get/impossible form the student page
  • CA is served through non-SSL links
  • Nobody knows about MIT CA or what it does for them
    • Link CertAid from the student page

Student Page:

  • Have a link at the top: "Is my service down?" -> 3DOWN
  • Have a link at the top: "Have a question?" -> Hermes knowledge base

Other sources:

  • A student-specific twitter would be good. People read Twitter because they want to, but people read mail because they have to, and prefer not to get stuff over e-mail because they get too much already

Under-utilized services:

  • TSM
    • Compare services to their alternatives: "Dropbox is good for X, TSM is good for Y"
    • e.g. "You can use TSM to back up your thesis, and important docs, without backing up your entire hard drive full of media"
  • Calendaring
    • Nobody knows they have an Exchange calendar, how to use it, that it can be sync'd with mobile devices, etc.