The creation of TSAC (Technology Support Advisory Consortium) was one of the primary recommendations of the Distributed Support Implementation Committee in their final report, issued in October 2000 after two years of campus-wide planning and discussion. The group was formed and began meeting biweekly in December 2000, working first to implement the Distributed Computer Support Plan across campus.

Distributed Computer Support, quite simply, is about communication and efficiency. Every single computer user on campus has been assigned a single phone number to call for all of their computing needs. The campus was divided up into workable 'clusters' of users, grouping together departments who have similar functions and computing needs. Each cluster's local support technicians then take responsibility for staffing their users' single phone number and providing prompt support. Finally, the local support technicians channel information about computer support and computing issues to their TSAC representative for discussion and action by the group; it is the TSAC representatives' responsibility to channel information back to the local technicians and solicit their expertise on computing issues. This sharing of information and resources is key to providing efficient computer support and eliminating duplication of effort.

Much has been accomplished in the implementation of the Distributed Computer Support Plan at ISU. Training sessions began in January 2002, and are now being as topics arise on the last Wednesday of the month from 2-4 pm.Vendor presentations and "social" session are also held, providing a meeting space for unstructured conversation among technology support professionals across campus. Announcements regarding these events and topics are posted on the NETALERT-L listserv. TSAC also continues to provide technical expertise and conduct research into various support topics. Please share your thoughts on these topics or any others with your TSAC representative or send them to .

con·sor·tium noun ken-'sor-SHE-em or ken-'sor-tE-em
Etymology: Latin, fellowship, from consort-, consors
1 : an agreement, combination, or group (as of companies) formed to undertake an enterprise beyond the resources of any one member
2 : ASSOCIATION, SOCIETY