How CSU students, faculty, staff and others can write a helpful request for CSU technical support

• Be calm and kind, show gratitude, and remember that you are writing to real people who want to help you.
• Use a concise, descriptive subject line and a sentence of introduction that clearly summarize the request issue.
• Explain your needs.
• Who are you?
• your role (CSU student, faculty, staff, associate, non-CSU)
• your ID (CSU ID, eID or NetID)
• your contact information
• What are you trying to do (your immediate goal) and why (your ultimate goal)?
• What would you like technical staff to do for you?
• Priority/importance/impact on you and others
• Urgency: any deadlines or need for assistance immediately?
• Explain your actions and results in enough detail that technical staff can reproduce the issue.
• What steps did you perform?
• What did you expect to happen?
• What actually happened?
• use numbered or bulleted lists for readability
• Include any relevant technical details that may help in troubleshooting, such as:
• web pages, including addresses/URLs
• the text of any error messages
• a screenshot or screen recording
• What was your browser, operating system (Windows/Mac), and computer/mobile device?
• Where and how did you connect? (on/off campus, VPN client if any)
• When does/did the problem occur? (so we can check logs)
• when it last worked
• when it first started
• times, frequency, under what conditions
• anything you changed, if you tried multiple times (browser, computer/mobile device, URL, steps)

How CSU technical support staff can write a helpful reply to a help desk ticket

• Start with a friendly greeting (hello, hi, etc.), and use their preferred first name if known (often in their signature).
• Thank them for reporting the issue.
• Express empathy for their situation and any hardship they have experienced.
• Explain what you see or know about the issue.
• Indicate whether you can reproduce it and explain why or why not.
• Explain what work has been and/or will be done by you and/or other technical staff.
• Ask questions to get more information.
• Refer to the lists of user needs, actions and technical details above.
• If the issue is unclear, restate their issue in your words and confirm with them that you understand them.
• Explain why the additional information will help.
• Provide tips and links to resources that will help them to help themselves to perform or troubleshoot their task.
• Let them know if the issue is resolved. If not, offer reassurance that the issue can/will be resolved, or consolation/workarounds if it can't.
• Estimate when they can expect to be contacted next with a resolution, a status update, or more information.
• Provide availability and contact information by other means (e.g. phone number, or Teams/Zoom meeting) if necessary.
• "Let us know by replying to this ticket if you have further questions or need more information or help."
• End with a closing (sincerely, regards, best, etc.) and your signature, including your full name, job title, and department.