January 2023 

The mission of Krieger IT is to partner with the school’s community of scholars and staff to provide and support the technologies that foster the school’s mission. IT staff are your partners in the academic enterprise. To facilitate a positive working relationship between Krieger IT and its clients, it makes sense to establish expectations for both IT staff and clients. 

Expectations of IT staff 

• Communication Channels 

• Email – primary channel for general requests 
• Teams – problematic due to inconsistent notifications 
• Tickets – clients in several areas (Dean’s Office, PHA, PBS, CogSci, MBI and AAP) can submit help tickets directly, either through SysAid (via email in the Dean’s Office, PHA or brain sciences) or JIRA (AAP) 
• Phone – for immediate problems 

• Response time for email and Teams – under an hour in most cases 

• Minimum response includes acknowledgement of receipt and a current status (e.g. working on it, will get to it at …, need more information), and a time for next update 
• Response times are based on regular business hours.  Requests made at the end of the day or on a weekend or holiday may not be responded to until the following business day  
• For emergencies (e.g. computer died/won’t restart, about to teach and can’t open file) please call 

• Drop-ins welcome, but may not receive immediate attention 

• Given the nature of their work, IT staff may not be at their desks 

• In a hybrid workplace they may also be working from home 2 days per week 
• If they are in their offices, they may be in the middle of assisting someone else 

• Department-assigned IT staff are first point of contact 

• Hybrid staff are still working when remote, and have tools to provide timely, quality support.  
• In the event of absence (vacation or illness) they will direct clients to their supervisor who can assign tasks to others 

• “Ownership” 

• Whoever responds (assigned or covering) will “own” the problem, and will be the one who will provide updates and resolution 
• This is true even when escalation to IT@JH is necessary 
• In most cases, IT will initiate contact with IT@JH, unless end-user interaction is required 

• Prioritization 

• IT staff will ask when you want something and when you need something 
• Urgency will often be evident.  IT staff are prepared to rebalance their queues in the face of emergent problems 

• Off-campus support 

• IT staff do not make house calls.  Support for JHU devices at home is remote only 
• Home equipment, including personal devices and home networking, is out of scope for our support.  Support for personal devices when brought in is limited and best effort only

Expectations of clients 

• Respect for time 

• Most requests should be made during regular business hours, and responses should be expected during regular business hours 
• Exceptions are made for emergencies at night and on weekends, generally involving loss of access to systems and services.  Note that key staff monitor alerts and may already be aware of problems 

• Do not dictate timelines, but if there is a tight deadline, please be transparent regarding need 
• Work cooperatively to schedule service appointments, and keep those appointments, once made 
• Facilitate quicker responses by providing as much detail as possible in initial contact, and respond to requests for more information in a timely manner 
• Honor explicit deadlines as required (e.g. requests for software in classrooms are due two weeks prior to start of semester) 

• Respect for knowledge and expertise 

• Engage in discussion of needs and solutions. Krieger IT has 30+ professionals with a wide and deep knowledge of technology and the ability to implement solutions that meet the needs of clients 
• Be prepared to be asked probing questions to enhance understanding and facilitate solutions 

• Respect for priorities 

• Understand your needs will be met as soon as possible, but prior commitments may influence timelines