U of M opens 2nd studentstaffed FedEx IT call site

A student-staffed information technology call center that supports FedEx opened Wednesday at the University of Memphis Lambuth campus in Jackson.

The center, located in Hyde Hall, will employ 50 students by August. It follows the opening last fall of a call center at the FedEx Institute of Technology on the main campus.

The centers are operated by the University of Memphis Research Foundation and wholly-owned subsidiary UMRF Ventures. They’re designed to provide well-paying parttime jobs that give students real-world professional experience.

The center’s student employees provide FedEx with technical support such as phone configuration and basic application and computing device troubleshooting.

The main campus call center employs 50 students and handles 250 calls each weekday. It will be joined in June by an IT Command Center with 35 graduate students working on data analytics and other services alongside FedEx IT professionals.

“The UMRF Ventures Call Center on our main campus in the FedEx Institute of Technology has been a huge success, and we are excited to be opening our second one on the UofM Lambuth campus,” university president M. David Rudd said in a news release.

“Our first goal as an academic institution has always been to prepare our students for success after graduation. It has been proven that students who study, live and work on campus are more engaged in the life of the university. It contributes to them graduating faster and having stronger GPAs.”

Students work 10 to 20 hours a week. The Lambuth center is hiring 25 students this month and another 25 in August.

Reach reporter Wayne Risher at (901) 529-2874 or wayne.risher@commercialappeal.com.