The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) conducted the online student survey this year in February. Students are randomly invited to participate and give their feedback on our services. The survey was well received by students with 1105 responses. Some findings are highlighted as follows:

1. OCIO was established six months ago and students did not know us very well. 77.5% of respondents did not know there is an OCIO website while 88.1% of them did not know we opened a Facebook Fan Page. More efforts should be spent on the promotion of OCIO.
2. The overall satisfaction rate for OCIO services was 87.6%, comparable to last year. The satisfaction rates for specific OCIO services increased by 2 to 6% from last year: Computer Room (84.2% -> 86.7%); IT Help Desk (90.0% -> 94.6%); Student Consultant (87.5% -> 93.7%).
3. As compared with last year, there was a significant drop in the percentage of students who thought computers in OCIO computer rooms were insufficient (60.8% -> 47.7%). Meanwhile, 32.2% and 60.4% of respondents thought that there were not enough software and printers respectively.
4. A majority of 94.4% of students used Print-N-Go workstations in Learning Commons, MMW Library and TKO Study Centre. Among them, 88.5% indicated that the service was useful.
5. There was a significant increase in the percentage of students connecting to the Student Hostel Wi-Fi Network(44.4% -> 61.1%). They commented that the service was unstable and the connection speed was very slow especially during night time. Only 30.8% of them were satisfied with the hostel network service.
6. 85.0% of the Year 1 students were satisfied with the arrangement on the collection of IEdSmart Student Card on the Registration Day. Among them, 39.8% indicated that the IT Services Orientation was useful.
7. The new service that allow students to reset their forgotten password with SMS authentication was introduced in September 2013. 62.3% of students said that this services was useful to them.

• Detailed Result
• OCIO Responses to User Comments

Detailed Result

OCIO Responses to User Comments

Following are our responses to the comments collected in the student survey with many students’ concerns (over 3 comments):

Hostel Network
Currently, the hostel is using a dedicated 300Mbps local + 160Mbps international Internet link subscribed from Wharf T&T Limited. Over the last two years, we have upgraded the network equipment for the hostel network, and we believe it would improve its service. From our internal monitoring tool, the network bandwidth is sufficient for hostels and the normal web browsing activities could be loaded within a few seconds. Nevertheless, from the responses of this survey we found that quite a number of hostel residents were not satisfied with the hostel network service. They indicated that the hostel network was not stable and sluggish at times, especially at night time. In order to understand the issue, OCIO will conduct focus group sessions in Mar 2014. We hope we could find out the cause(s) of the problem so that we could fine-tune the network to improve the service without the need to pay more for Internet bandwidth (Note: The running of hostel network is funded by the hostel fee).

Wi-Fi Service
Regarding the request for extending the coverage of Wi-Fi on campus, we will focus our resources and try our best to ensure good Wi-Fi service is provided in the major areas on campus, such as "teaching and learning" areas, Library and some common areas, e.g. Learning Commons and canteen. In addition, we will upgrade the related network equipment in the near future in phases to further enhance the Wi-Fi service to meet the growing demand. However, please note that due to the nature of Wi-Fi signals which are electromagnetic waves, the service is easily affected by interference, e.g. tethering hotspot setup with mobile phone or private access point (AP).

Computer Room
Regarding the request to increase the number of computers in our open access computer room, we need to strike a balance between space for Learning Commons where students could freely interact or filling the space with rows of desktop computers.
To address the issue, we have made available one-day notebook loan service so that now about 150 notebook computers are available for loan to students. Besides, there are iMac installed in Learning Commons which also run Windows, and there are also hundreds of open access computers in the Library and the satellite computer rooms in hostels. During peak period when assignment due dates are approaching, OCIO will open additional computer room 24 hours for open access (please watch out for Intranet announcement).

Printing Service
Regarding the request to increase the number of printers, from our statistics, the overall printer utilization is not very heavy. The issue might happen during peak hours e.g. students rush to complete their assignment when assignment due dates are approaching. We will monitor the usage but we might not be able to cater for the peak while the resources are left underuse at other times. Please kindly note that, to improve the printing service, we have setup Print-N-Go express printing stations in the Learning Commons, the Main Library and also the TKO Study Centre. Besides, since September 2013, we have changed the default printers of the Print-N-Go stations in the Learning Commons to the four different high speed printers to spread out the print jobs which in turn reduce the waiting time for getting the printouts.
Regarding the comment that there were not enough Print-N-Go stations, it occurs only during some peak time. Now, there are 13 Print-N-Go stations installed in the Learning Commons, 4 in the 7x24 Learning Centre in the Main Library and 2 in the TKO Study Centre. We will continue to monitor the usage and increase the number if needed.
Regarding the request to increase the free print quota, please note that the free print quota is not designed to meet all the printing needs. It aims to reduce the hassles that too many students rush to buy print quota at the beginning of the academic year. I am afraid students have to buy additional print quota if needed. Students are also reminded to print ONLY when needed, and to save print quota (and also to save the environment), they are encouraged to print duplex or multiple pages per sheet of paper.

Loan Service
Regarding the request to increase the number of notebooks for one-day loan service, please note that we have increased the number from 100 to 150 since September 2013. We understand some of these notebooks are relatively old, we will upgrade them in batches in the future. We will also continue to monitor the service and, if budget allows, increase the number when there is a need.