(Internal use only - work in progress too update web and wiki)

(current web description)

Our Computer Lifecycle team assists faculty and staff  with managing computers from ‘cradle to grave’. Our service includes curating and assisting with purchasing recommended computer models, receiving, inventory, and deployment of computers, transferring data, and managing the end of life retirement of computers including wiping hard drives and transferring to surplus.

web draft:

• Supported Computers and Printers

  • Recommended Computer Models

  • Recommended Printer Models > link to EPM Printers 

• Purchasing and Receiving 

  • Refer to our Completing a UT Market Purchase guide to facilitate purchases. 

  • All computers should be delivered to BEL 228
• Assist Departments with Faculty and Staff computer lifecycle programs >COLA Lifecycle wiki  

  • Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty - Computer replacement typically occurs in a 4-year cycle

  • Certain non-Tenure Track (NTT) instructional faculty may also be included in the program
  • Faculty transitioning to Emeritus status must relinquish any College-owned or Generations computers at the time of their retirement
  • Funding of computers for staff is the responsibility of the department
  • Funding of computers for research is the responsibility of the faculty researcher and/or the department
• Inventory and ISORA 
  • Computers delivered to BEL 228 will be tagged and added to DEFINE as part of our deployment process.
  • Computers delivered to departments must be tagged by the owning unit and transported to BEL.
  • LAITS registers all active networked devices (including printers and computers) in the ISORA inventory application, as required by Information Security Office (ISO) policy. LAITS regularly updates this inventory to ensure compliance with this policy.
  • LAITS will assist departments with annual inventory by providing a report of all known computers as well as registering them in the ISORA application. (UT tagged devices registered in ISORA will be automatically marked as found in the annual DEFINE inventory).

• Computer Deployment
  
  • LAITS provides curbside delivery at BEL, delivery to service desks and office delivery for desktop computers as needed
  • Provide remote or in-person configuration and data migration as needed

  • LAITS provides computers with standard software >link to EPM self service

  • security and management settings >Link to EPM and department or end user specific software as needed. 

  • Provide UT backup configuration >Link to EPM
  • To maintain ISO required security standards, LAITS installs a minimum security profile for all supported computers
• Computer Repairs > link to Desktop Support
• Lost / Stolen Devices
  • Staff members must report lost or stolen equipment the UT Police Department and report to ISO

    • Contact UTPD on their non-emergency line: (512)-471-4441 to file a report

    • Fill out an ISO Stolen Device Form

  • Contact LAITS to request a network search to determine if the device is on campus or online
• Surplus
  • All computer surplus requests should begin with Surplus Pickup Request Form 
  • LAITS will coordinate the surplus of standard computer equipment for supported customers per University requirements (HD removal / wiping)
  • Surplus of any non-computer devices (printers, other devices) is the responsibility of the department

Computer Purchasing

• Recommended Computer Standards designed to meet the needs of most faculty and staff. 

• LAITS maintains a list of Recommended Computer Models

• This Recommendation is  based system cost, durability, product longevity, quality of manufacturer support, and other factors.

• LAITS' recommendation generally aligns with common standards in other units at the University of Texas.
• See Computer Lifecycle /wiki/spaces/LAITS/pages/77236059

The Lifecycle Computer Program:

• • Keeps capable systems in the hands of staff and faculty for the first four years

  • Guarantees a supply of reasonably recent, used machines in good condition that can be re-assigned to student workers, shared, and secondary systems for another two years

  • Ensures computers can support current operating systems and applications, while complying with the University’s security policies

  • Lowers support costs and increases the quality of support by reducing fleet diversity

Provides instructions Computer Purchasing Procedure to purchase from Apple or Dell

• • New computers ordered by a department should arrive at BEL 200A to be imaged.

  • If shipped directly to BEL 200A, computers are tagged, and added to UT Inventory

  • Inventory team transports and deploys the imaged computer to the owning unit location

  • During the life of the computer, Lifecycle staff can update DEFINE to reflect accurate computer locations

Computer Lifecycle

The Lifecycle program is a yearly computer lifecycle program managed by LAITS that ensures faculty and staff have one University-provided computer that is less than four years old.

Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty

• 'Lifecycle Program' computers are provided to T/TT faculty with the roles:

  • Professor

  • Associate Professor

  • Assistant Professor

• One  Lifecycle Program computer is provided by the College to each T/TT faculty.
• Lifecycle Program computers are typically replaced on a four-year cycle.
• Faculty are required to relinquish their former computer when offered their replacement Lifecycle Program computer
• Lifecycle Program computers are provided for the use of the faculty member only.

  • Lifecycle Program computers identified as being used by other than the intended faculty may be reclaimed.

• Faculty may choose either a laptop or a desktop computer. LAITS provides standardized models to ensure reusability of computers for other purposes. Lifecycle Program computers will be assigned to a LAITS financial code in DEFINE.
• Faculty or their department are responsible for accessories, including monitors, keyboards, mice, or docking stations. (Note that desktop computers typically come with a keyboard and a mouse.)
• Faculty may choose to opt-out of the Lifecycle Program on an annual basis (foregoing replacement or opting out completely).

  • Faculty who are eligible for a replacement computer will be solicited annually.

  • Faculty who opt-opt and keep their current computer will be required to return their computer if it becomes unsupported (see Supported Computer Policy).

• Faculty whose position changes from tenured or tenure-track to a different job position (such as adjunct, research, emeritus) will be required to relinquish their Lifecycle Program computer for reassignment. LAITS will consider requests for an alternate computer based on business need and availability.

Non-Tenure Track Faculty 

• Certain non-Tenure Track (NTT) instructional faculty will be included in the Generations program described above under Tenured/Tenured-Track Faculty. All of those requirements are applicable to these faculty. NTT faculty roles included in the Lifecycle Program include:

  • Professor of Instruction (Distinguished Senior Lecturer)

  • Associate Professor of Instruction (Senior Lecturer)

• Computers for all other NTT faculty roles, including Assistant Professor of Instruction (Lecturers), are typically the responsibility of the department. LAITS maintains a cohort of repurposed computers that, at LAITS’s discretion, may be provided to these faculty. Any computers provided will be transferred to the respective department and must be maintained according to LAITS computer support policy.

Faculty Emeritus

• Faculty transitioning to Emeritus status must relinquish any College-owned or Generations computers at the time of their retirement.

• LAITS will assist Emeritus faculty by recommending appropriate models for their personal use and will assist with transferring data from their University-owned computer to their personally-owned computer.

• Only limited ‘best effort’ support will be provided to Emeritus faculty.

Staff

• Funding of computers for staff is the responsibility of the department.

• LAITS maintains a cohort of repurposed computers that, at LAITS’ discretion, may be provided to staff, depending on business case.

• Any computers provided will be transferred to the respective department and must be maintained according to LAITS computer support policy.

Research

• Funding of computers for research is the responsibility of the faculty researcher and/or the department.

• LAITS maintains a cohort of repurposed computers that, at LAITS’ discretion, may be provided for research use, depending on business case.

• Any computers provided will be transferred to the respective department and must be maintained according to LAITS computer support policy.

• Repurpose Supported Computers 

  • Allow 5-10 business days for imaging and redeployment

  • Large quantities (5+ computers) require more warning and coordination, may not be done immediately

  • Urgent requests for deploying repurposed computers may receive loaners instead

LAITS does not:

• Purchase computers on behalf of customers
• Purchase dongles or other accessories
• Computers NOT delivered to BEL 200A must be tagged by department before LAITS will take possession
• LAITS will not support computers retrieved from Surplus if they are too old to handle a modern OS 
  • customer must also provide a new disk (HDD/SSD), if it is missing
• Immediately pick up multiple computers from departments for reimaging
  • Scheduled pickups usually occur within 1 week

Computer Repairs

See DS Computer Repair

Surplus

See /wiki/spaces/LAITS/pages/77240676

• For supported customers, we collect and process tagged inventory for surplus or repurpose
• The surplus team completes CCART transfer to LAITS and wipes / removes drives for those select customers 
• Wipe /remove hard drives  (in place) for devices that are ready to be sent to surplus

LAITS does not:

• Complete the CCART for in office hard drive wipes (responsibility of the owning department)
• Allow surplus to be stored or dropped-off in the DOC
• CCART or  wipe hard drives immediately; allow several weeks for the work to be completed
• Assist with surplus of any non-computer devices (printers, other electronic devices)

Internal Helpful Notes

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