Hardware and Software Services

Purpose

The Division of Information and Instructional Technology (IIT) ensures that all employees have the appropriate desktop hardware and software required to fulfill their job duties and responsibilities. The document outlines the standards related to client support services.

Scope

The document covers technology support for all college employees including faculty, staff, and administrators.

Responsibilities

• Technology Support Services (TSS) – All areas within TSS (Audio Visual, Client Services, Asset Management, Service Desk) provide support and have responsibilities.
• College Employees – Responsible for utilizing IIT processes and service offering forms to make requests and report problems.

Standards

Hardware and Software Manufacturers

Microsoft is the college’s standard for desktop operating system (OS) and office productivity tools (MS Office). Ellucian Colleague is the college’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. A full listing of AACC’s standard manufacturers is in Attachment A.

Issuance of Equipment

All employees will be given access to standard equipment. See Standard Equipment. 

Operating System and Software

All employees will have access to a Microsoft operating system and Microsoft Office products. Attachment C provides a full listing of the college’s desktop software standards. A documented operating system (OS) standard is available for each operating system to be deployed at the college. All new images or changes to an image or OS standard are reviewed and approved by IIT prior to deployment.

Customer Request Process

How to Initiate Requests

All requests for hardware and software services can be initiated by either:

• Purpose pricing is needed (i.e. for budgetary purposes or whether software is being purchased)
• Publisher, title and version of the software
• Quantity
• Description as to why the software is needed and whether there are other alternatives

Average turnaround time for quotes is 5 business days. Requests which need a requirements analysis will take additional time and will require supervisor approval.

Departments will pay for all non-standard software, this includes licenses and maintenance.

Installation of Non-Standard Software

All software installation requests should be submitted through the Software Installation Request service offering. The request should include:

• Publisher, title and version of the software
• Location of the computers. For individual computers, we would need the appropriate asset tag(s). In the case of classroom or lab installations, indicate the room number and number of systems the software is to be installed.
• In support of license management, IIT will need the licenses and installation media.
• Supervisor approval is needed for installations on multiple computers, for installation of software titles not in the IIT inventory and requests needing a requirements analysis.

The average time for testing and deployment is 10 business days, labs may take up to three weeks to allow time for testing.

Software Availability Off-Campus

Students, faculty and staff may take advantage of Microsoft Office 365at no cost. Individuals can download Office software (such as Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook) for free. 

Email can be accessed via the MyAACC Portal or https://outlook.com/aacc.edu. An Email address, password, and multi-factor authentication are required:

• Administrative email: username@aacc.edu
• Instructional email: username@mymail.aacc.edu

Software for Work-at-Home

Through AACC contracts, faculty and staff have options for obtaining various software products. These can be purchased via OnTheHub (Kivuto). A valid AACC issued email will be required.

Access to Applications and Shared Drive Folders

All requests for application access and shared drive folders should be submitted via the Request Shared Drive Access service offering. 

Hardware Purchases for Personal Use

Students, faculty and staff receive a discount on Dell laptops and PCs: www.dell.com/DellU/aacc.

Information and Instructional Technology Support Process

Deployment of Equipment

IIT will install and setup all office equipment and telecommunications devices.

For new employees, IIT will initiate the deployment after Human Resources provides notification and after the employee’s account is generated in Ellucian Colleague. IIT will coordinate and schedule the installation of the necessary equipment with the employee’s supervisor prior to the employee’s arrival.

Enterprise grade computers are procured as they have sufficient performance for user workload and the required security controls such as asset tracking, contingencies if computers are lost/stolen, anti-malware, and security patching.

IIT will tag and inventory all equipment issued. All equipment remains the property of the college and will be surrendered by the user upon terminating their employment with the college or upon request.

Foundation Purchases

College-wide licensing allows us to install software (such as MS Office) only on college-owned PCs and desktops; this software cannot be installed on non-college property. Equipment purchased using Institutional Advancement funding is considered college property. Purchases made using foundation funding is not considered college property unless the equipment has been officially donated to the college via a donation letter to the Controller.

Desktop Support

IIT staff provide desktop support for instructional and administrative areas college-wide. Problems and requests are reviewed and prioritized based on the urgency and impact to the college. All problems impacting instruction are handled as an emergency (reference the Service Level Management process for details).

The college purchases warranties for all desktops and laptops. In support of agreements with system manufacturers such as Dell, PC support is limited to certified staff members for specific devices under warranty.

IIT staff will provide on-site support of college owned equipment used on-campus. Users with at- home equipment are responsible for bringing the equipment on campus and taking it back when the repair is completed. Equipment used at remote sites, such as Senior Centers, will be supported per predefined agreements and Memorandums of Agreement.

College IIT staff are not permitted, while on work time, to provide hands-on computer hardware and software support for equipment that is not owned by the college. Staff will provide guidance and will provide best level of effort to customers in use of personal equipment, when feasible. This process holds regardless of whether the requester is a student, faculty member, staff member, or is from the general public.

College IIT staff may engage in outside work-for-hire support for non-college owned computers on their own time. The college assumes no responsibility for any work performed in this manner.

Employee Moves

When an employee is transferred their assigned computer will move with them. The employee’s extension will transfer with them except when the extension is the lead number to the department, is assigned to the department, or appears in college publications.

It is the responsibility of the employee’s new hiring office to submit a Project Service Request (PSR) form for employee moves; exceptions need to be approved by the Executive Director, Administrative Services, or Director, Facilities Planning and Construction. It is the responsibility of the office the employee is departing to retrieve any pertinent data (i.e. email, data on PC/home directory) before the employee ends service in that department.

Legal Holds

When the college is notified of a legal action or a potential legal action, the college attorney directs the college to place a litigation hold on all electronically stored information & documents for certain employees who may have information relevant to the legal issue.

In accordance with the legal hold notice IIT will ensure that the individual’s college issued equipment, data, e-mail, or accounts are not altered or deleted. In the event the employee leaves the college, their accounts and data are to be frozen and their equipment sequestered until the release is authorized by Vice President LRM or Executive Director of HR. According to the notice, if the College replaces any hardware, IIT will retain the previously used hardware.

Ownership and Departures

College equipment is not the property of the office or person and should not be considered as such. Upon faculty/staff departure, with the exception of shared workstations, all assigned desktop and non-standard equipment will be returned to IIT inventory.

After receiving written information from Human Resources and Vice President approval(s), Information and Instructional Technology will provide required data/email access associated with the respective terminated employee.

With the exception of equipment flagged as legal hold, IIT will erase the entire hard drive of all returned equipment three weeks after an employee’s departure. This will ensure that all confidential information is removed from the equipment prior to reissuing.

Replacement Cycle

IIT will replace desktop computers and laptops, budget permitting:

• Academic PCs and laptops every four years; this is equipment in computer labs and smart/modified-smart rooms.
• Administrative PCs and laptops every five years; this is equipment used by faculty and staff.

Re-purposed/cascaded equipment is excluded from future replacement cycles. Departmental and grant purchased equipment is to be replaced by departments, as needed.

The following factors are used to determine replacement priorities when budgets are limited:

• Age of equipment – Systems must support the operating system and software/applications for which they need to run. Systems must have configurations capable of running newer versions of Window 10. Older equipment is prioritized over newer equipment.
• Usage of equipment – Instructional equipment has priority over administrative. Equipment used frequently has priority over lesser used equipment.
• Service records – Systems and computer labs with higher rates of documented issues are prioritized.

Disposal of Equipment

All asset disposals are to be coordinated with IIT. Prior to disposing PCs and laptops, the hard drive needs to be wiped to erase data files and software that may contain confidential or sensitive information (CSI). Asset tags on all equipment are to be removed and inventory updated. Prior to donating equipment, Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) is contacted to determine whether they want the equipment; if not, it is donated for recycling. Business and Financial Resources (BFRO) is notified as to the location and disposition of all fixed assets (assets over $5,000).

Software Licensing

IIT will manage all college licenses and media. All software is to be license compliant. Therefore, it is Information and Instructional Technology’s procedure that licensing information and media be reviewed and on file in IIT prior to the installation of any software. For additional information on software licensing please view the Technology Audit Services page.

Data Storage

Computers in labs and classrooms (smart rooms) will have a fresh image whenever it is restarted. All malware and viruses will automatically be removed. Any data saved locally (C: drive) will be removed as well as any plugins and applications that have been installed.

Information and Instructional Technology encourages faculty and staff to make use of One Drive, Teams, and network shares (G: drive) for saving information (in lieu of the C: drive and flash drives) when using any college device.

Windows Updates

With Windows operating systems, Microsoft deploys security updates and new operating system features through “Servicing”. Information and Instructional Technology utilizes this process to regularly update systems once or twice a year.

Users are responsible for keeping laptops plugged in, connected to Internet and screen open for updates to be installed. When servicing occurs, users may notice a longer than normal start-up time during their first login after an update.

Guidelines for Using Technology Off-Campus

Guidelines for faculty and staff working from home (or remote) are available here. This information is also available on the Intranet and college portal.

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Attachment A: Standard Software

See Tech Audit Dashboard.

Attachment B: Standard Equipment Issued to Faculty/Staff

See Standard Equipment (Faculty & Staff).

Attachment C: Standard Desktop Software