Computer Upgrade/Purchase Policy
Replacement Cycle budgeting/Who gets a new computer?
All full-time faculty and administrators, as well as most staff,
at Assumption have office computers provided and supported
by the College. All these machines, as well as those in computer
labs, technology classrooms, science labs and the library are
critical to the efficient functioning of the College. They
are also expensive resources which need to be kept up-to-date
with technology evolution. Given this, a replacement cycle
system was implemented in 1996 to replace some machines each
year using a logical and equitable approach with whatever funding
the Budget Committee and outside sources can provide. Under
this system, using the College's master inventory of computer
resources, the oldest machines are replaced each fiscal year.
The Information Technology Department coordinates faculty,
staff, and administrator computer replacements with individual
departmental chairs.
This policy is not related
to whether machines are working properly. If a machine needs
service, the help desk (extension 7060) should be contacted.
All machines are kept in reasonable working order (industry
standard) throughout their "life" on
campus. Any machine that can no longer provide all the standard
functions needed by its user(s) is immediately replaced. This
process should take no more than 7 days. Spare machines are
kept in IT for such needs.
Often replacement machines
are not new. Certain areas, such as the labs, require more
powerful technology. The multimedia lab machines, for example,
are replaced yearly. Other machines (such as staff and faculty
machines) ordinarily last for several more years. Some machines
are rotated from high-end demand areas to being desktop devices
for faculty and administrators. The underlying principle
is that everyone has an important need for a functioning
computer, but not necessarily a new computer. In addition,
computers assigned to members of one department may be moved
to use in a different department. All computers remain a
part of the computer pool of the College. They are not "owned" by
the staff member or department. They are office equipment
and must stay in the office except under special arrangements.
If an enhancement to a machine is paid for by an individual
who subsequently leaves the faculty, or if the College removes
the machine from the faculty members's office to use it permanently
in another person's office, a lab, or the library, the individual
will be reimbursed for the amount which they invested in
internal enhancements of the computer if the machine is less
than 5 years old. The amount will be adjusted for the age
of the machine if the faculty member leaves the College.
The College continues to try to reduce the average age of
replacement. Contact Mimi Royston or Mark Brooks for details
concerning the current replacement age and the Assumption long-term
plan for reducing/maintaining this age.
Scheduling replacements/When (during the fiscal year) do I
get the new computer?
Each fiscal year between 100 and 200 machines are replaced.
These replacements are spread out over the year using the following
guidelines:
- During the summer, lab, technology classroom, and library
patron replacement/new project machines are installed.
This causes the least inconvenience for students.
- New faculty
are allocated machines by the second week of September.
- During the Fall term, faculty replacement machines are
installed.
- During the Spring term, administrative and staff
replacement machines are installed.
Laptops
The College maintains a pool of laptop computers for classroom
and short-term special project use. These machines can be
signed out on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact Ron
Bishop to reserve one. This technology is convenient, but
expensive. Generally speaking the total cost of operation
(over the lifetime of the machine) is about twice that of
an equivalent desktop machine. If individual departments
or faculty members want to use a laptop as their regular
office machine, the individual or department must fund the
extra cost of the machine and all repairs. It is also assumed
that the machine will be "hooked into" the network
whenever the faculty member is on campus. We also expect
the machine to stay with the office when faculty go on sabaticals.
Electronic mail requires a machine to receive memos, letters,
papers, etc.. The added cost of a laptop can be substantial.
We base it on the difference between the laptop price and
the “standard” machine we provide. Work out the
details with IT (Mark Brooks). See information below about
purchasing laptops (or desktops).
Exceptions to the above policies
The College wishes to empower our computer users. New projects
or special applications needs can legitimately require exceptions
to the general guidelines for both machine replacement and
the timing of the delivery of the machine. Some needs are
not obvious. For example, the staff doing data entry into
the main administrative databases need much more powerful
computers than faculty doing web, research, e-mail, word
processing, statistics, web authoring, and spreadsheet work.
Which applications need more power shifts over time. The
Information Technology Department will continue to work with
all members of the community to try to provide the resources
needed to every user.
All desktop computing replacements are coordinated by Mimi
Royston Associate Director of Information Technology, and Mark
Brooks, the Desktop Computing Director . Feel free to contact
either with any questions.
Purchasing Computers and the Loan Program
IT will be happy to assisit you with personal buys of computers,
software, and peripherals. Contact IT (Mark Brooks, Mimi
Royston, or Bob Fry) to work out details. A 5% surchage is
generally added for handling charges. Taxes are assessed.
(These are considered in-state purchases.)
There is a faculty loan program to buy computers. It is limited
to $1,500 per individual. It may only be used for hardware.
There are limites to the amount available to be used by the
College for this program. Contact the Finance Office for details.
Any arrangements are to be made directly with IT for what you
wish to purchase and with the Finance Office for whether you
wish to use the loan program for any or all of your purchase.
The system is based on IT never knowing any of your financial
matters, including whether or not you have a loan and what
its status is.
Authored: August 1997 by Bob Fry
Last edited: August 2004
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