IT may seem like an ambiguous concept, but on Auburn's campus, it means something more.
IT, which stands for Information Technology, supports all the computers and networking in a specific college.
"We control all the labs and the servers," said Michelle Fish, sophomore in software engineering and IT technician for the College of Business. "We do a lot of fixing computers and programming scripts."
IT also serves as a help desk for students who have computer questions.
"We can fix anything from computers to cell phones to printers and also any classroom equipment," said Shelley Snipes, senior in accounting and IT technician.
Since IT controls the domain that every lab computer is logged onto, IT also installs all the software.
"At the end of the semester, we do what's called a 'refresh,'" Fish said.
A refresh allows for every computer to be updated with new software.
"We just redo the computers to make them fresh and ready for the next semester," she said.
IT is a small part of OIT, the Office of Information Technology, which assists the entire University.
Most colleges, like the colleges of business and engineering, have their own IT groups.
"We still talk to OIT about some things because since we are part of Auburn we have to coordinate with them on certain things, but for the most part we control the college," Fish said.
Fish has worked with IT for the past year to help her obtain more experience within her major, while Snipes has worked for three years both repairing computers and assisting at the help desk.
IT technicians begin their mornings before most classes are even in session.
Fish's day starts at 7:15 a.m. when she arrives on campus to open the student labs and check on the classrooms in Lowder.
"We have to make sure all the classrooms are always working, like the projectors and the speakers and the computers," Fish said.
Snipes, who works part time, enters the office at 7:45 a.m. and is finished around 12:30 p.m.
While in the office, Snipes and Fish work on their projects for the day, while also fixing any problems that occur in the classrooms throughout the day.
"Computers break every day," Fish said. "We always have at least 10 computers in our office that we're working on. Something somewhere is always broken, and we have to get it fixed. Our first priority is students and classrooms. Every time there's a problem, they'll send a student and we'll go run and fix it for them."
Common problems have ranged from fixing simple software issues to viruses.
"You would not even think how many people have viruses on a daily basis," Fish said. "Most viruses come from employees' computers."
Most people aren't sure what exactly is wrong with their computer, they simply know that something isn't working right, Fish said.
"Once we figure it out, fixing it isn't as hard as trying to figure out what it is," Fish said.
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