College-Owned Computers
All college computer equipment is on a regular replacement cycle. The goals of the replacement plan are to: ensure that appropriate computing resources are available in public and departmental computing facilities, classrooms, and college offices to support the mission of the institution; ensure that each faculty and staff member who uses computing resources in his or her position has a computer of sufficient capability to fulfill his/her responsibilities; implement minimum standards for computing equipment on campus, and encourage planning, cost-effective installation of new equipment and disposal of old equipment.
Following are the College’s guidelines on computer provision and replacement:
Full-time Faculty Computers
1. Faculty computers are refreshed on a regular cycle established by the College (normally 3 years). This refresh cycle pertains to computers assigned to all tenure-track and tenured faculty as well as faculty on 5-year rolling contracts. Faculty have a choice of a Windows or Macintosh computer, either a desktop or a laptop configuration.
2. Based on the ITS inventory system, faculty are automatically assigned to a fiscal year when their computers are up for replacement. Faculty members may select the quarter of that year during which s/he would like to have her/his computer installed (January-March; April-June; July-September; October-December).
3. ITS will select the standards for the base Macintosh and Windows computer configuration for the year. Minor adjustments to the configuration may be made as the year progresses due to availability or changes initiated by the vendor.
4. Faculty will be sent a notice when his/her computer is up for replacement. The notice will delineate the specifications for the base machine. The notice will indicate that faculty may request upgrades to the base computer, but must discuss funding sources with the Dean’s Office (Associate Dean) prior to placing the upgrade request.
5. All transactions will be tracked in the ITS helpdesk software from the time an order is received until it is fully installed. Requested upgrades will be noted as part of the respective helpdesk ticket. Faculty members will be assigned a ticket number so that s/he may track progress of the transaction if so desired.
New Faculty Computers
1. When a new faculty member is hired, a letter from ITS will be sent, via the Dean’s Office, to the new faculty member describing the College’s policies and procedures regarding the provision of a computer for the faculty member’s use. The letter will delineate the specifications for the base machine and indicate that faculty may request upgrades to the base computer, but must discuss funding sources with the Dean’s Office (Associate Dean) prior to placing the upgrade request.
The letter will clearly state that information must be received by ITS no later than 1 July to insure delivery and installation by the start of classes.
2. All transactions will be tracked in the ITS helpdesk software from the time an order is received until it is fully installed. Requested upgrades will be noted as part of the respective helpdesk ticket. Faculty members will be assigned a ticket number so that s/he may track progress of transaction if so desired.
3. New faculty will then be placed on the regular replacement cycle.
Visiting and Part-time Faculty Computer Policy
The Dean’s Office will compile a list of visiting and part-time faculty annually in order to coordinate the distribution of available recycled computers. Computers for part-time faculty and visiting faculty on 1-, 2- or 3-year contracts will be those that are available after replacement of the open/general use computer labs which ITS operates (see computer lab replacement schedule in the following section). In most cases, this equipment will be no more than two years old. Priorities for the reuse of these recycled computers have been established (see the following section).
Open, General Use Labs
The equipment in these labs is refreshed on a cycle such that the computers available for secondary users are no more than two years old. First priority for these recycled computers will go to full-time visiting faculty, followed by faculty research laboratories, followed by part-time faculty.
Departmental Teaching Computer Labs
Current departmental computer labs (ranging in size from 2 to 25 computers) are on a regular refresh cycle (normally three years). Before the creation of a new departmental computer lab, if it is to be eligible for this program a formal request must be submitted to the Associate Dean. Requests will undergo a review process by the Executive Director of ITS, the Associate Dean and the Faculty User Group. Requests must be justified in terms of the special needs met by the lab that cannot be met by the general-purpose labs already available in Hahn and at ITB.
Technology Enhanced Classrooms
All existing technology enhanced classrooms are on a regular replacement cycle (normally three to five years, depending on the piece of equipment). If a department wishes to make a formal request for an additional technology enhanced classroom, the request should be made to the Dean’s Office (Associate Dean) by September for consideration for the following fiscal year
The addition of new technology enhanced classrooms as well as the replacement or upgrade of existing technology enhanced classrooms will be based on a review by the Dean’s Office and the Registrar of the current use and demand.
Faculty Research Computers/Workstations
Faculty with computers in their laboratories should look first to research incentive funds, set aside by the College from external grants, to secure replacement computer equipment.
If no research incentive funds are available, computers or workstations for use in faculty research laboratories may be available from the replacement cycle of the open/general use computer labs that ITS operates. Requests for such equipment will be solicited each Fall semester. Requests are due in the Associate Dean’s Office on November 15. Requests will be reviewed by the Executive Director of ITS and the Associate Dean.
Academic Staff Computers
1. Academic Staff include: academic department coordinators, technicians, art museum staff, Pacific Basin Institute staff, and Oldenborg staff.
2. Academic staff computers are refreshed on a regular cycle established by the College (normally three years).
3. Based on the ITS inventory system, academic staff are automatically assigned to a fiscal year when their computers are up for replacement. Generally, the replacement of computers will take place during the summer, but may be arranged at other times during the designated year of replacement.
4. ITS will select the standards for the base Macintosh and Windows computer configuration for the year; minor adjustments to the configuration may be made as the year progresses due to availability or changes initiated by the vendor.
5. Academic staff will be sent a notice when his/her computer is scheduled to be replaced; the notice will delineate the specifications for the base machine. The respective department must cover any upgrades to the base system.
6. All transactions will be tracked in the ITS helpdesk software from the time an order is received until it is fully installed. The staff member will be assigned a ticket number so that s/he may track progress of the transaction if s/he so desires.
Administrative Staff Computers
1. Administrative staff computers are refreshed on a regular cycle established by the College (normally three years).
2. Based on the ITS inventory system, administrative staff are automatically assigned to a fiscal year when his/her computer is up for replacement. Generally, the replacement of computers will take place during the summer, but may be arranged at other times during the designated year of replacement.
3. The standard computer in all administrative offices will be a Windows based computer. The only exception to this are the computers used for graphics work by the staff in the Public Affairs Office of the College.
4. ITS will select the standards for the base desktop and laptop computer configuration for the year; minor adjustments to the configuration may be made as the year progresses due to availability or changes initiated by the vendor. The respective department must cover the cost of any upgrades to the base system (for laptops this pertains to the cost of the docking station, external monitor, mouse and keyboard).
5. Managers of administrative departments will be sent a notice when the computers in his/her department are up for replacement; the notice will delineate the specifications for the base machine.
6. All transactions will be tracked in the ITS helpdesk software from the time an order is received until it is fully installed. The staff member will be assigned a ticket number so that s/he may track progress of the transaction if s/he so desires.
7. Departmental student assistant workstations are the responsibility of each individual department. Each department should budget for the regular replacement of student workstations, normally on a three year cycle.
8. In the case of laptops that are lost, ITS will make every effort to provide a desktop computer from the recycle pool for the staff member’s use until the staff member’s slot comes up on the regular replacement cycle, or the department may choose to pay for the replacement of the laptop.
Emeriti Faculty Computers
Emeriti faculty who will occupy an office on campus after retirement may opt to take his or her existing desktop or laptop computer to the new office. ITS staff will set up the computer in the new location and the computer will receive ITS staff support until the computer is 4 years old. Emeriti faculty will not be included in the regular faculty computer replacement cycle.
Mid-Replacement Cycle Hardware Upgrades
Minor upgrades to computer hardware that need to be made because of changes in the requirements of a faculty or staff members work will be handled by ITS. Typically, such upgrades include additional memory, increased disk space, etc. In all cases, the costs of the required upgrades will be weighed against the age of the computer and the cost of a complete replacement.
