Left to right: Justin Smith and Neel Patel, Genius Squad student technicians; Marlyece Blum, Genius Squad team lead in the Lincoln Park Campus; and Robert Kamka, Genius Squad team lead in the Loop Campus. DePaul's Genius Squad provides technical service and support for desktops, laptops, phones, tablets and other personal electronic devices to all faculty, staff and students. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)
There is no need to call Apple Support, spend money at a technology retailer or panic when your laptop crashes. Previously available only to students, DePaul faculty and staff now have access to the university's very own technical support team, the Genius Squad, for assistance with their DePaul-owned computers and mobile devices.
DePaul's Technology Support Center houses both the Help Desk, a service providing support via the phone, and the Genius Squad, a service providing walk-up technology support. The tech-savvy squad provides free, hands-on help for desktops, laptops, phones and other electronic devices. At its core, the Genius Squad strives to provide maintenance, guidance and support for all DePaul community members' technological needs.
Marlyece Blum, the technology support center team lead for the Lincoln Park Campus, explains the Genius Squad aims to meet the technological needs of the DePaul community.
"The Genius Squad places an emphasis on helping faculty, staff and students with the best hands-on support we can. We will examine, diagnose and give advice on what we believe are the best steps to solving the problem," Blum says.
The Genius Squad is made up of skilled, trained technicians, specifically College of Computing and Digital Media undergraduate and graduate students led by a full-time staff member at both the Loop and Lincoln Park campuses. Experienced with hardware and software, Squad student workers are able to troubleshoot, add email to personal phones, install operating systems, repair hardware, remove viruses and much more.
In order to best serve the DePaul community, the Genius Squad not only serves students, but also has expanded support to faculty and staff with DePaul-owned computers and mobile devices. Starting this spring, the Genius Squad will increase its accessibility by extending its weekday hours. There will be extended hours at both the Lincoln Park and Loop locations and operate on weekends in Lincoln Park.
The Genius Squad is located on the first floor of the John T. Richardson Library in Lincoln Park and the DePaul Center 11th floor computer lab in the Loop campus. The Genius Squad is open for free, walk-up consultations and services with their current hours being Monday-Thursday 9 a.m. - 7 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., and Saturday 12-6 p.m.