Unlimited tech support and training, with office visits, available at your convenience - for free. Who are these wizards of computer knowledge willing to lend their immeasurable talents to helpless staff and faculty across campus?

The answer is SUNY Potsdam students. Their names are Chris Urban and Andrew VanNess, and together they make up T4P2: Tomorrow’s Professional Teaching Today’s Professional About Technology. Urban and VanNess possess extensive computer knowledge and lend their skills to Potsdam faculty and staff whenever necessary.

Advised by both the departments of Computing and Technology Services (CTS) and the College Libraries, Urban and VanNess more or less administer the entire T4P2 program themselves, providing faculty with personally-tailored mentoring sessions on a variety of technology needs.

Urban is from Chestertown, and he handles the PCs. VanNess is from Red Hook, NY, in the Hudson Valley, and he’s all about Macs. Neither have any formal training, yet both have more computer skills than most professionals who use computers every day in their jobs.

Even more interesting is the fact that Urban and VanNess are both majoring in music education and hope to teach high school band. Urban is also enrolled in the Honors Program, and VanNess is taking part in the BA/MA program and will graduate with both a bachelor’s degree in music education and a master’s degree in mathematics.

So, how did two music education majors wind up knowing so much about computers? “I grew up with computers,” Urban said. “I train myself on various programs, and then take what I’ve learned and help others.”

VanNess, who began working for T4P2 in the spring semester of his freshman year, said he has been using a computer for literally as long as he can remember, and always pushed himself to learn more.

“There was always a Mac in the house, and it encouraged me to explore the computer and push it to its limit,” he said. “I actually find being on the computer relaxing.”

For staff members who want to take advantage of T4P2’s services, it’s easy. Urban or VanNess will schedule a session, depending on the request, and make a “house call” to the person’s office. Both say the response from Potsdam employees has been overwhelmingly positive.

“We offer another resource for faculty to learn more about their software, and we usually have more time to spend with them than the CTS help desk,” Urban said. “Faculty really love the T4P2 program.”