A virtual campus means adjusting to a new work style
Student employees at Fresno State had to make some changes when the campus switched over to virtual learning in March 2020.
Fresno State has been mostly virtual for almost three semesters now.
Byron Solorio is a student employee for Fresno State’s Computer Support Services. Solorio said he gets “a lot of phone calls and Zoom calls.” It can be a bit challenging helping students and faculty from their homes because they can’t really see what’s happening on the other end of the computer.
Now, his department uses Team Viewer to give them access to the student and faculty devices. “It’s kind of hard to explain over the phone what to click and where to click cause we are not really seeing their screen,” said Solorio. “So that’s been our biggest help.”
In addition to the computer services department, the Kennel Bookstore, also had to make some technology changes. Student employee Desiree Abundis started off as a cashier; however once the campus switched over to virtual learning, that changed.
“I basically learn everything for internet orders since we didn’t have a lot of customers coming in,” Abundis said. “it was mainly just digital.”
That’s not the only change the Kennel Bookstore has faced. The number of in-person customers they get has dramatically decreased. “Most of the time we have like five customers come in,” Abundis says. “Compared to the usual 20 within the hour.”
Similarly, prior to the pandemic, the Joyal Administration Building always had a line of students out the door. But now the employees are helping students mostly over the phone.
“Working on campus during a pandemic is definitely different,” said Brooke Chau, a student employee for Accounting Services in the Joyal Administration Building. “I worked on campus pre-pandemic and I saw students every single day and now I maybe see two or three.”
While the last few semesters have been different for student employees, this fall they will get a sense of normalcy when students return back to campus.