IT Services Support Policies

Computing Resources in Office Spaces

Hardware

IT Services can only support hardware that is owned by the College, used for College business, and has been approved via the Hardware/Software Requisition process (HSR). Our guidelines are the following:

• One computer per person. Supported Models
• A maximum of one black and white, one color and one large format printer per contiguous office space. Supported Models. When present, the leased Canon multifunction copiers should be used as the printer, fax and scanner.
• One handheld cell phone/device per person. Supported Models
• Peripheral devices necessary for the performance of job duties.
• One fax extension per contiguous office space.
• One phone extension and one standard phone per person.
• One active data jack per person per office.

Adjunct faculty, work-study students, and others may be supported with some of the above services after a review of the departmental needs and the infrastructure available to requested workspaces.

Replacement

IT Services will replace computers that are no longer under manufacturer warranty and are no longer working correctly or fail to provide adequate computing power because of changes in software or business practices. The standard replacement equipment is a desktop computer (Windows PC) with standard accessories and one monitor. If you require something other than the standard equipment (laptop, extra-large monitor, Mac, etc.) we will contribute up to the cost of the standard hardware setup, the remainder being the responsibility of the requester.

Operating Systems

The only operating systems supported are Microsoft Windows XP and Mac OSX 10.5 or greater.

Software

IT Services can install any legal software application necessary for the performance of job duties.  We cannot, however, guarantee every software application will work in our environment.  For software that is not distributed campus wide, the user is responsible for providing necessary installation media and licensing information. A lack of original media or adequate license information may prevent IT Services from installing any such software.

We cannot provide in-application help for most software, but we can provide limited assistance in using the following applications:

• Banner and associated products
• Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel and Powerpoint 
• Microsoft Entourage (Mac)
• Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE)
• Mozilla Firefox
• Apple Safari

E-mail/Calendaring

IT Services provides e-mail to faculty and staff via Microsoft Exchange. The only supported e-mail clients are Microsoft Outlook for Windows and Microsoft Entourage for Mac.

Administrative Access

In order to maximize support success and minimize user difficulties with security, manageability and reliability, users do not have administrative rights on College-owned computers. Users with extraordinary needs may petition for a Manager Account. To use a Manager Account, the user must get approval from their area Vice-President and agree to abide by the Manager Account Policy.  An e-mail from the approving Vice-President, including the original request, indication of approval and an indication that both the VP and the submitter have read and understood the Account Policy is required and should be submitted to the Director of IT Services.

Backup and Restore

IT Services backs up data solely for disaster recovery and business continuity purposes. We do not archive data except where specifically requested. We do not back up anything stored on individual computers.  Files/data stored in Redirected My Documents and on network shares are backed up, and the “Previous Versions" feature can be used in the short term to restore individual files.

Off-Campus Access and Support

IT Services can provide limited support during regular business hours for the following web-based applications:

• WebCT (mycourses.western.edu) 
• Blackboard (blackboard.western.edu) 
• Outlook Web Access (www.western.edu/exchange)

Limited support of off-campus network secure access to the Western network may be available subject the following:

• Must be have an approved Flexible Work Arrangement in place.
• Must have broadband (high-speed) internet connection.
• Must use a computer system owned and managed by the College.

Computing Resources in Academic Spaces

Hardware

IT Services manages and supports academic computing labs and smart classrooms. This includes all computers, AV equipment, software and any equipment attached to scientific equipment.

Software

Computers in academic and student labs are refreshed with new software once per year, normally in August prior to the start of the academic year. Software that needs to be included on the student lab image must be submitted to IT Services before July 15th. Software that does not meet this deadline may be deployed later, but the scope will be limited and it may not be deployed by the beginning of the academic year. IT Services makes every attempt to include requested software in lab environments. However, compatibility with other software and installation issues may limit requested software installation to specific labs.