Network Administrator Assistant

Position Summary:

Supports the day-to-day stability, performance, and security of the university’s network infrastructure and communication endpoints. This position provides hands-on experience in monitoring network systems, responding to service tickets, and assisting with troubleshooting efforts for voice services (VoIP/Teams), digital and analog faxing, emergency call stations, and IP-based video surveillance. The assistant participates in special projects to ensure seamless connectivity and physical campus security.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and/or Competencies:

• Basic understanding of networking concepts such as IP addressing, DNS, DHCP, switching, and routing.
• Familiarity with Power over Ethernet (PoE) standards and their application in powering access points, cameras, phones, and emergency stations.
• Basic knowledge of SIP protocols and analog telephony signaling for troubleshooting fax and voice lines.
• Familiarity with network troubleshooting tools (e.g., ping, traceroute, wireshark) and ability to assist in diagnosing connectivity issues.
• Strong communication and customer service skills to interact effectively with faculty, staff, students, and technical teams.
• Ability to follow standard operating procedures, document work clearly, and escalate issues as needed.
• Willingness to learn enterprise-level network systems and tools in a structured, team-based environment.
• Attention to detail and a strong sense of responsibility in maintaining secure and stable network operations.

Physical Demands:

• Ability to lift at least 50lbs.
• Crouching, crawling, and climbing ladders (essential for camera and emergency station maintenance).
• Using power tools to rack equipment and mount field devices.
• Working long periods during network outages.
• Driving as needed to perform job duties throughout the campus footprint.

Minimum Qualifications:

High school diploma or equivalent

Duties/Responsibilities:

Support the Network Operations Center (NOC) in day-to-day operations:

• Activate and troubleshoot switch ports throughout campus.
• Troubleshoot physical, data link, and network layer issues.
• Consult, interact, and coordinate with Departmental IT representatives across campus.
• Assists and supports VoIP and Microsoft Teams phones, including handset configuration, sign-in troubleshooting, and call quality analysis.
• Maintain and troubleshoot campus emergency call stations, ensuring constant connectivity and audio clarity for public safety.
• Support IP video camera infrastructure, including physical mounting, PoE verification, and ensuring connectivity to the Video Management System (Genetec).
• Facilitate faxing solutions, supporting both modern cloud-based faxing and legacy analog lines via ATAs (Analog Telephone Adapters).
• Support a campus-wide wireless network.
• Aid in supporting IoT network devices.
• Manage and assist tickets in person and remotely in a timely fashion.
• Assist team lead with network cabling installations (fiber and UTP) within the Data Center and around campus adhering to current standards.
• Reports issues to supervisor or manager as they arise.

Percentage of time: 50

Participation in special projects:

• Participates in special projects as needed, such as performing work in the data center, assisting other EITS groups, etc.
• Assists in large-scale hardware refreshes (e.g., mass camera and switching deployments)
• Makes, installs, and certifies data center cables as directed.
• Assist with NSP (Network Services Program) network projects.
• Interact with vendors to resolve hardware issues and failures.
• Learn all aspects of switching and routing to support the campus network.
• Install and configure data network switches and routers.
• Manage and update appropriate parties on projects assigned by manager.

Percentage of time: 30

Intermediate tier support – assists NSP in skill-appropriate tasks as necessary:

• Develop and maintain a knowledge base for common voice and camera troubleshooting steps.
• Experienced with hand tools and light power tools for field device installation.
• Troubleshoot data networks in both production and test environments.
• Proactively monitor and maintain network uptime and health.
• Use packet capture software such as Wireshark to diagnose SIP/Voice signaling and network issues.
• Use Visio to create and update network diagrams, including camera and emergency station locations.

Percentage of time: 15

Other duties as assigned.

Percentage of time: 5