Tech Support Volunteer Agreement

Welcome to Free Geek! We're glad to have you here, and we hope your time with us is enjoyable and educational. Your internship here does have some standards and requirements; please review the following and sign at the bottom.

• Scheduling: Tech Support shifts are 4 hours long, with a morning shift running from 10:15am to 2:15pm and an afternoon shift from 2:00pm to 6:00pm. Please plan on being present for the full duration of your scheduled shifts. We typically limit an individual intern to 2 shifts per week, though additional shifts may be added to meet required hours for work or academic programs.

• Attendance: Please notify Tech Support staff via email to supporttechs@lists.freegeek.org as soon as you know you are going to miss a scheduled shift. Absences not reported the week before (or in an otherwise timely manner with consideration for the nature of the absence) will be considered unplanned; repeated unplanned absences will be cause for warnings and may lead to dismissal.

• Hours: Please check in at the Volunteer Desk as soon as you arrive and check out at the end of the day to log your hours. This ensures your attendance is documented and gets you credit towards a free computer!

• Documentation (Yours): If any paperwork is required by a program that this internship is a part of please bring it in as soon as possible to allow sufficient time for any assessments or other documentation to be completed.

• Documentation (Ours): Please document any work you do on a system in the relevant RT ticket. You really can't document too much; every detail may help with a long and tricky problem. Even if all you do is take a system off the shelf, plug it in, power it on, then realize you're out of time and put it back, document it!

• Communication: Please make sure you have a current email address subscribed to the supporttechs@lists.freegeek.org mailing list; this list is used for important communications about scheduling and service changes.

• Data Security: Any information you may learn about staff, volunteers, donors, or anyone else at Free Geek is to be considered confidential and may not be used or disclosed for any purpose outside of Free Geek's operation. Any data on systems brought to Tech Support is to be considered confidential as well and is not to be transferred to any other device or system except for our internal backup server or any device the user has provided and specifically requested we transfer the data to.

• Soliciting Personal Business: Do not solicit personal business that conflicts with Free Geek's services or mission while you are working in Tech Support. We have a community posting board where you may place a business card for reference by people in need of additional services.

• Property (Yours): All bags are to be checked at the Volunteer Desk and should not be brought into the Tech Support office. Any personal equipment you wish to use while working in Tech Support will need an equipment pass filled out at the Front Desk when you are bringing it in.

• Property (Ours): Removal of any parts or equipment that has not been officially disbursed to you constitutes theft and will be grounds for immediate dismissal. We do have a formal system for the lending of equipment for testing or experimentation when appropriate, please check with Free Geek staff for further details.

• Property (Users'): Handle all user equipment with the same care you would handle your own. Report any accidental damage immediately and make sure it is documented in the relevant RT ticket. We understand that accidents happen, and are much happier to have you report them promptly than to have an unhappy user find the damage when they get it home and have to return again for us to put it right.

• Conduct: Treat all users and your fellow interns with courtesy and respect. Use professional language when interacting with users; do not use vulgar or discriminatory language even if the person you are speaking to does so.

• Irate Users: If at any time a person at the door or on the phone becomes angry or hostile please refer them to a Free Geek staff member immediately.

• Discipline: Violations of the conditions outlined in this agreement will result in warnings. Severe violations or repeated warnings will result in dismissal.

• Questions: Ask them! Your new favorite phrase should be "I don't know." We understand that you are here to learn and you are not expected to have all the answers. We appreciate you being resourceful and checking online (Ubuntu forums, Google, etc.) when you are unsure how to proceed, but if an explanation is unclear or the next steps in resolving a problem are uncertain then please ask!

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