NEIU New Equipment Survey
Survey Highlights and Summary
• 22 of 70 users responded to the survey, for a good response rate of 31%.
• Most users had their new equipment for 4-6 months. A surprising number (59%) had no problems in the equipment upgrade; but a minority (36%) did have some, and one user had moderate problems.
• The helpdesk was of value during the upgrade. Users who contacted it gave it a rating of 3.2 on a scale of 1 to 4. However, more consistent training for the helpdesk staff would be beneficial.
• The new equipment has helped the great majority (86%) of users very much. Major benefits are faster, more reliable equipment and software, full internet and Novell network access, and the ability to work on several tasks (ie, windows) simultaneously.
• After the upgrade most users switched from WordPerfect to Microsoft Word, and spreadsheet processing got a boost, with the majority (61%) now using Microsoft's Excel. Email access with pine fell off, with most now using Netscape Messenger (63%) or Outlook (13%).
• Many other applications are in use, including SPSS, MS Access, CARS, Turbo C++, PaintshopPro, Dreamweaver and Powerpoint.
• The Novell network is used by a number of respondents (65%), in particular to print and share documents within a department. But the network and its benefits remain obscure to some, and more training in this area would be helpful.
• Suggestions for future upgrades: 1. A yearly budget for equipment upgrades would help prevent equipment from getting too far out of date. 2. More software tools, such as web and graphic editors, could be provided with the new equipment. 3. More help transferring files and bookmarks from the old to new equipment would be useful (note- this can be facilitated by using network drives). 4. More training and manuals (or suggested books) for new software would help users learn the basics, and a website of hints and tips would also be valuable.
All questions and comments were optional.
The survey ended on Jan 30, 2001.