Theme V: Guidelines for the Distribution & Replacement of Faculty Computing Equipment

The Brooklyn College Middle States Self-Study (1999) concluded that teaching has become more and more dependent on technology. The computer, with its associated software and peripheral components, has become a pivotal tool in the educational process. This led Vice President Steve Little and Acting Provost Laura Kitch to charge the Advisory Committee on Academic Computing with developing a College policy for the distribution and replacement of faculty equipment:

Hardware

All faculty members who desire a computer should have a desktop machine meeting minimum hardware and software specifications. This definition should evolve as does educational technology and may differ from discipline to discipline.

The goal of the faculty upgrade and replacement cycle is to replace desktop computers every three to four years. For planning purposes it is recommended that the College begin with a four year cycle, with the goal of moving to a three year cycle when fiscally possible.

New faculty should be provided with a desktop computer at the beginning of their first year. The department chair is responsible for including anticipated new faculty computers in departmental requests to the Provost, who will include them in the planning and budgeting process for the coming year.

Faculty members who want to upgrade their computers before the end of the four-year cycle may submit requests and justifications to their chairs who will submit these requests to the Provost so that they can be included in the planning and budgeting process for the coming year. The date for submissions should be publicized well in advance.

A request for a mid-cycle upgrade may be met by upgrading the faculty member’s existing computer or replacing it. Staff in ITS will confer with faculty to determine the appropriate approach. When an existing computer is upgraded, the four-year cycle continues. However, when the computer is replaced the cycle begins anew.

ITS will create and maintain a database of faculty computers, including date of installation and the date of expected replacement. This database, along with all requested computer upgrades and the anticipated costs, will be made available to the Provost and the Vice-President for Finance and Administration to assist in their decision-making. After approval, ITS will notify faculty of the intent to upgrade or replace their computer in the coming year.

Faculty members who do not require or desire a computer must indicate their decision in writing to ITS for inclusion in the faculty computer database it maintains. Similarly, at the end of a four-year equipment cycle, any faculty member can opt to keep his or her existing computer. This request should also be sent to ITS for inclusion in its database.

Department chairs will notify ITS when faculty retire or leave the College’s service. These computers will be reconditioned and reassigned according to needs determined by the College administration.

Software

The goal is to upgrade all essential productivity software on faculty computers as new releases become available. Because of the associated costs, this goal may not be achievable at the present.

Productivity software varies from department to department and among individuals within departments. Upgrade prices also vary among products. Because of this, $100 should be set aside for each faculty member, each year, to acquire license upgrades.

The individual faculty member will contact ITS and request the upgrade. Unused allocations (not every faculty member will chose to upgrade) can be used to subsidize faculty whose licence upgrade requests cost more than $100.