• Improve the technology available at ACA schools
• Significantly reduce costs for making these large-scale technology improvements
• Train STAs in a multitude of different skills that go above and beyond their current training
• Give STAs and IT workers hands-on experience at implementing these technology improvements
• Encourage a fun, family atmosphere for sharing and working side-by-side to accomplish a big task while helping someone else in the process.

A Possible STATIS weekend:

Essentially, a STATIS weekend might look like this:

Teams of IT workers and STAs from several ACA colleges descend upon a sister ACA college with the specific task of (ethernet wiring a dorm, installing computers for an entire lab, setting up and testing a wireless networking system, etc.). The volunteers are housed and fed by the host college and training commences early Saturday morning or even Friday night. After being trained, the volunteers are broken into teams and sent out to perform specific portions of the task at hand. If the task is not satisfactorily completed in the given time, a prearranged follow-up team comes back the following weekend to "tie up the loose ends."

Gains:

The host school pays for the needed equipment, but saves big time on the labor costs and initial troubleshooting.

The Student Technical Assistants gain valuable knowledge about the tasks in which they participate, a more well-rounded view of the IT world outside of their home campus, and make friends with other STAs and IT leaders from other colleges and universities within the ACA.

The IT workers gain hands-on experience in much the same way as the STAs, build relationships with colleagues and STAs, while at the same time knowing that down the road, they could be the ones receiving the much desired assistance from a STATIS days team.

Interested?

Give us your feedback by emailing either Tom McMurtry (Montreat College) with comments, suggestions or ideas/requests for a STATIS day at your school. Your active interest and participation in this program will help STATIS become a strong and vital part of our ACA collaborations for years to come.