SEE THE NEWER RESIDENTIAL COMPUTING SUPPORT PROJECT WEB SITE,
of which this page was a forerunner

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Bringing the Network Home

• February 25, 1996, Daily Pennsylvanian, "Officials seek to expand residential computing / The ResTech Primary Support project would grow from Van Pelt College House to all residential program houses." by Tammy Reiss
• Is it effective to support computers by email and phone? UCal Berkeley asks this question.
• It's not rocket science: see how real primary support happens - never faster or more efficiently than when at home. We must build this into the system.
• Sample response to a typical call for help
• MAPLE math help, Van Pelt style
• Excerpt from an article on computing at universities dealing with the engagement of students as peer teachers in information technology
• Stanford has "residential computing coordinators" right in the dorm. Why can't Penn? We must be able to deliver "front-line" "primary" support in computing where the students live. Can't have a "distributed" computing environment without actually distributing the people who deliver support.
• Read Stanford's mission statement carefully - and the job description of the "Resident Computer Coordinators." They say, "At Stanford, Residential Computing is part of Residential Education."
• Mail from a Stanford RCC
• Residential networking at MIT, where there are RCCs as at Stanford
• Van Pelt's Sandbox Committee, making an effort to stir the waters.
• What principles should inform primary support?
• Sandbox Committee mission statement and wish list.
• Computer consultants (work-study positions) re-organize to provide "primary support" (February 1996)
• Math help right here in residence
• We experimented last year with "Van Pelt at Van Pelt" - bringing the library home! (Read a news story about this.) Now we have a full-fledged project: Van Pelt at Van Pelt, Library across the University
• Even when we're all living together, communication can always be better. This on-line calendar - entirely student-designed - has significantly improved scheduling House and House-related events.
• Our "reslab" - why we think we can customize it to suit the preferences of residents and the needs of our program
• Memo announcing that we are hiring new-style "computer consultants" (May 1996)

Living and Learning (or: Same As Above)

• A course on "The Literature of Community" is being taught here.
• The Penn Edison Partnership, including the overnight visit of Edison students at Van Pelt.
• Van Pelt's mini-course series.