The IT Help Desk provides support to the entire campus community. In addition to supporting current faculty, staff, and students, the Help Desk provides limited assistance to retirees, parents and prospective students. Many of the Help Desk staff are HDI certified and all are committed to providing exceptional service.
The IT Help Desk is available to answer questions regarding any of the services that IT provides and any of the software applications that we support. They are able to assist with network configurations, software troubleshooting and training, email support and configuration, and more. You can reach them at 214-768-HELP (4357), help@smu.edu, or in person at the IT Help Desk in Fondren Library West.
Shanta Ball, Help Desk Manager
Shanta has been with OIT for three years. She holds several Microsoft and Apple certifications. Over the past few years, her focus has been on providing excellent service, and she looks forward to continuing to support the SMU community and the IT Help Desk team in her new role. During her spare time, Shanta enjoys volunteering at Children’s hospital twice a week, listening to and making music, and reading.
“Over the past three years, I have enjoyed working on the front lines as a Help Desk Consultant.” Shanta shared, “Now as Help Desk Manager, I’m looking forward to expanding my knowledge and leading a team that is highly engaged, knowledgeable, and passionate about serving the SMU community.”
Angelo Gutierrez, Help Desk Consultant
Angelo is from Dallas, Texas – Go, Cowboys! He recently graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University with a Bachelors in Information Technolgy and two programming certificates. Before joining SMU, Angelo worked at Stephen F. Austin State University providing IT support and developed websites. He is excited about his new position here at SMU and looks forward to meeting new people and helping them out with their IT needs. When not at SMU, Angelo loves to spend his free time reading and working out.
Ashlee Berry, Help Desk Consultant
Ashlee is new to SMU’s IT Help Desk and has been enjoying being a part of the SMU family for a little over three months. Prior to her coming to SMU, she spent ten years working help desk and administrative application support positions with various companies, such as AT&T, Samsung, and Verizon.
During her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her 4-year-old son, going to school to get her Associates Degree, watching movies, and playing Texas Hold’em Poker tournaments – when she has time.
Gary Mays, Help Desk Consultant
Gary is new to the IT Help Desk team at SMU. He came from UT-Southwestern where he worked two years in a similar role. Gary enjoys discovering new restaurants while traveling, coaching youth sports, and listening to vinyl records.
Gina Benavides, OIT Student Employee Manager
Gina has been with SMU for almost 14 years. She began as a student worker at the IT Help Desk and moved into a full-time role in 2007. Since then, Gina manages many of the student workers within OIT. In her free time, she enjoys home renovations with her husband and spending time with their four kids.
Jonathan Bull, Help Desk Associate
Jonathan began working with the IT Help Desk in 2011 as a student worker. After graduating in 2015, he was offered a full-time position due to his performance and dedication during his time as a student worker. He enjoys helping people learn to engage with technology and use it to make their lives more efficient and productive. When he is not working, he can usually be found at home playing with his 6-month-old, watching the Cowboys, Mavericks, or Mustangs, or attempting to cook.
Kimberly Clark, Help Desk Consultant
Kimberly hails from Louisiana and has been with SMU since August 2018. She received both her AAS and BS degrees in Information Technology from the University of Phoenix.
Margaret Dew, HDI Support Center Analyst
Margaret has worked in Customer Service for SMU for over twenty-five years. She was the Collections Manager and Classroom Media Scheduler for the Norwick Center for Instructional Media then moved to the Cox School IT Help Desk handling classroom AV systems and assisting faculty, staff, and students. Margaret joined the OIT IT Help Desk in late 2015.
