IT Services Announces New Director of Support Services, Chuck Mitchell

David Stowers

Chuck Mitchell at the Campus Tech Workshop Oct. 5

IT Services announces the promotion of Chuck Mitchell to director of support services. In this position, Mitchell will serve as leader of the technology customer service experience, overseeing the IT Help Desk, desktop support and computer lab operations. His immediate goal is to re-imagine the technical support framework to better meet campus expectations.  

Mitchell is keenly aware of the performance expectations for technical support teams across campus. He previously served as Help Desk manager within IT Services and chaired the Achieve IT: Service Desk workgroup. The purpose of the workgroup was to develop a common service desk model that can be used across the institution to provide general walk-in support, telephone support and field support for office computers, lab computers, major applications and other typically high-volume, fast-response services.

"I look forward to continuing the momentum built by the Service Desk workgroup and pressing forward to build a service desk we can all be proud of," Mitchell said.

Additional plans for Support Services include the creation of a single contact point for all technical support issues on campus for students, faculty and staff. Support Services is also charged with implementing a campuswide ITSM (information technology service management) system to define a clear and reliable model for responding to technical issues and making changes to the technology infrastructure.

Mitchell will also work with campus IT professionals to develop an internal training and career advancement model for current and prospective technical employees.

Mitchell reports to Associate Chief Information Officer Paige Francis, who oversees academic technologies and shared services.

"While this represents a formidable challenge, IT Services leadership is confident Chuck will execute transformative change," Francis said.

With over 30 years of IT experience, including 10 years supervising support services, Mitchell is up to the task to transform IT service delivery for the University of Arkansas.

"We have a mountain to climb, but we have the people, vision and direction to get there," Mitchell said. "I am happy to be a part of this team."

Information on how to contact University of Arkansas tech support is available at at its.uark.edu/help. Find out more about campus technology services and events at twitter.com/uaits and facebook.com/uarkits.