How do you (politely!) tell staff to...

[LeMarchand]

...submit their own requests for equipment?

 

One of my sites has a system where all requests for purchases have to go on a form (to prevent "spend happy" teachers going wild). If a projector bulb is on the way out I'll happily fill out a form, but things are starting to slide to the "it's IT related, so I'll get the tech to do the paperwork". I've had a request this morning to request a new charger to replace a "dangerous" one for a teacher. I did see this charger yesterday and thought "that's not the one I issued to replace a faulty one a couple of months back", and on inspection the lead had been patched with heat shrink etc so not only had the issued one either been damaged or taken home, one that was (presumably) bought to use had been thoroughly trashed.

 

Now, I see it as my job to order the part, but feel that the teacher should be requesting it - she's the one incapable of looking after school equipment. (If it was up to me, she'd pay for it, too). Am I being irrational?

[featured_spectre]

Not being irrational in the slightest!!

 

Teachers here put everything through ICT, if it is deemed acceptable it gets done, if not it gets rejected with a reason why!

[p858snake]

I did see this charger yesterday and thought "that's not the one I issued to replace a faulty one a couple of months back", and on inspection the lead had been patched with heat shrink etc so not only had the issued one either been damaged or taken home, one that was (presumably) bought to use had been thoroughly trashed.

Asset tag everything...

[LeMarchand]

Asset tag everything...

 

It's a cash-strapped primary - even getting blank stickers for DIY tags would be a struggle!

[p858snake]

It's a cash-strapped primary - even getting blank stickers for DIY tags would be a struggle!

Permanent markers and a unique numbering/IDing system would work fine.

[LeMarchand]

Good idea! Now I just need some time!

[bossman]

@LeMarchand:

 

If it is IT related in our school then it is up to my team to sort and this includes ordering the part or component, this is good practise especially if you can pre-determine when the failure of the device is imminent. It makes for a wow factor when you have a preventative maintenance schedule which fixes things before it breaks (in their eyes at least) obviously when certain checklists are in place you can pre-determine when i.e. a bulb in a projector is about to fail and therefore change it before it actually happens, the teacher knows nothing about this and therefore it seems like magic when the projector just works every time they put it on.

 

These little things can make for a happy interaction with the staff as all they want is for equipment to just work, rather than fire fight and have the staff moaning all the time we incorporated a preventative maintenance schedule years ago and reap the benefit now.

 

We are just another service to them and therefore nothing special as they don't even contemplate trying to understand what we do to make their daily life that much more amenable.

 

We gauge our level of competency and how the network is working by the transparency of our work, the more transparent the better, this is reflected in the number of help-desk requests which on average at the moment is around 8 per day.

 

In summary, it is our job to look after everything IT related and the teachers just need to be able to teach not have to fill out forms, I'm sorry if this upsets some people on here but this is the fact of the matter we are responsible.

[silver_uk]

You must realise that ‘if it’s got a plug on it’ the responsibility falls at the desk of ICT.

 

Asset tag and everything and pass on you r inventory to your admin person to do a spot check from time to time.

[LeMarchand]

In summary, it is our job to look after everything IT related and the teachers just need to be able to teach not have to fill out forms, I'm sorry if this upsets some people on here but this is the fact of the matter we are responsible.

 

Sorry for the snippage - some very good points. This may sound like making excuses, but it's not easy being proactive when there's one of you doing part-time hours and the purse strings are so tight that something has to break before it's replaced!

 

As for form-filling: I see your point, but object to being used to disguise the fact that equipment is being mistreated/mislaid. (As it turns out, I have now discovered that the teacher has lost the charger that she was issued with to replace her mistreated one and is now back to using the duff one). Should teachers be teaching - yes. Should the school/LEA and ultimately all of us, as taxpayers, be paying for her carelessness - I'd say no.

[witch]

I concur...preventative maintenance schedule would be such a lovely thing - if I wasn't part-time and in a cash-strapped school. I can only dream of such things...

[soveryapt]

The way I deal with things is that if a member of staff comes to me with a broken item that has obviously been damaged and not just general wear and tear is that I say to the member of staff "I can order a new part for it however I will have to speak with the head to find out if we a) have the funds available and b) whether or not you will be responsible for the damages."

 

Now, with the staff laptops this is a lot easier as they all sign an agreement to the fact if it comes in trashed, they will be responsible for the cost of repair. Now, they're lucky in the fact that the school only charges for parts and not my labour in the repair, which saves them some of that cost. One example being a teacher who has now broken 2 laptop screens. The first one, as they were due for an upgrade to their laptop anyway the head basically said "on this occasion we won't charge you, but if anything happens to the new one, we'll have to charge you" so sure enough, a couple of months later, a shiny new Compaq 610 with a dirty great crack in the screen, so it's costing them £120 to put right, which is cheap as it doesn't include my time and I've been able to source just the screen as the housing was fine, else they'd have been looking at "you might as well buuy a new laptop for what it's going to cost" conversation.

 

So, I guess in answer to your question, it's not going to be something that can come directly from you, but you need to get the SLT on side with you in that general orders for replacement bulbs, computers during upgrades, etc etc, you are happy to process, but to get them to tell the staff they need to provide the paperwork for the things that get broken, that or when a member of staff approach you as such, you have an agreement you can approach the SLT for their support in the best way to approach it.

[LeMarchand]

Good points, soveryapt. Unfortunately I find that (in Primary at least) SMT will invariably cave to teachers just to keep the peace .

[bossman]

I concur...preventative maintenance schedule would be such a lovely thing - if I wasn't part-time and in a cash-strapped school. I can only dream of such things...

 

Hey dreamy how you doin?

[kernewek-sam]

Permanent markers and a unique numbering/IDing system would work fine.

Or one of those UV marker pens, in some areas the police will give you a free one to mark property with.

[soveryapt]

Or one of those UV marker pens, in some areas the police will give you a free one to mark property with.

 

In some areas, you might even be able to get SMART Water for free .. they certainly used to be pushing it for Educational establishments ..