Service Policies for Faculty & Staff

IT's service policies are designed to help assure that resources are allocated as efficiently and equitably as possible, consistent with our mission.

Service Location

IT technicians will come to on-campus faculty and staff offices to service computers that have been purchased by units at ASU's West campus. Campus-owned computers that are not normally located on campus may be brought to your office or left at the Help Desk for service.

Service Priorities

IT defines service request priorities in terms of the impact on the campus and the requester and in terms of  the availability of an alternative to meet the requester's immediate need.  Lower priority requests are moved up if they have been waiting one or more days. 

The following are specific interpretations of the general priority guidelines:

• Setup of a new or transferred computer will probably involve transfer of personal files from the current computer to the new computer. Setup priorities are higher for those who will do the transfer themselves  than for those who want IT to perform the transfer.
• Requests for setup of recommended hardware and installation of recommended software will receive higher priority than will requests for products that are not on the recommended lists.
• Requests for installation of the latest release of virus protection software on PCs will receive low priority, since the software allows you to schedule automatic updates.
• Service priorities for computers normally located in homes will be lower than for computers normally located in offices.
• Installations on personally-owned computers will receive a lower service priority than installations on campus-owned computers.

Hardware & Software Installation Policies

IT will install software only on computers that are about 4 years old or newer. If it can be made to work at all, newer software tends to run very poorly on hardware older than this. Typically, it is more cost-effective to replace older computers than it is to suffer through frustration and lost productivity due to outdated equipment. Trying to extend the life of old equipment through upgrade and repair, is not usually recommended either, since labor costs for maintaining old computers can be significant.

If you do not know when your Windows computer was purchased, you can make an educated guess by identifying the model and then referring to the History of Recommended PC Configurations.

To determine the likely age of your Mac computer, you can look up your model on the Apple History site or the History of Recommended Mac Configurations.

IT will install software or hardware only on computers that already have an operating system installed. New computers should be purchased with the operating system pre-installed, and the operating system should not be deleted from computers that are being transferred within or between units. 

Hardware Repair Policies

IT provides vendor-certified hardware repair service on campus-owned Dell (Optiplex and Latitude product lines only) and Apple systems. There is no charge for repair of systems that are under warranty. For all other systems, IT charges the cost of replacement parts plus $40 for each hardware repair visit.

IT may refer problems with printers and plotters to OMR&R. OMR&R, a sub-unit of Purchasing at ASU's Tempe campus, provides installation and maintenance service for copiers, typewriters, printers, plotters, and facsimile machines. OMR&R also offers repair services on IBM, Apple, Dell, Hewlett Packard, and Compaq computers.

Problems with brands or product lines that IT does not service will usually have to be referred to the vendor or supplier. Apple has a Find Service that you can use to locate an Apple Authorized Service Provider in the area. Dell service may be obtained by calling 1-800-274-1410.

Software Problem Policies

IT will respond to problems in accordance with the Software Support Policy and consistent with established service priorities.

IT technicians may ask you to uninstall freeware applications that are known to cause system problems before they begin troubleshooting.

Network & Dial-In Problem Policies

If you experience problems with ASU's PPP service when the IT Help Desk is not open, you may be able to get phone assistance from the Tempe Campus IT Help Desk. The staff there will help people from any ASU campus.

You may experience slow response time when running server-based applications from off campus. Most server-based applications run very slowly over modems, and there may be special problems in running such applications through various Internet Service Provider connections. IT does not, therefore, troubleshoot reported problems of this type.

Policies For Computers not Owned by ASU

IT has limited service available for computers not owned by ASU as follows:

Software Support

As a member of ASU's faculty and staff located at the West campus, you may bring your computer to the Help Desk for installation of supported software that is licensed for use on personally-owned equipment, and for setup of dial-in through ASU's PPP service.

Computers should be brought in with accompanying documentation and any operating system CDs. IT will return your computer without installing software if  there is not sufficient disk space, memory, or processor speed to run the requested software.

If you bring your computer in, you must accept any associated risk:

• You are responsible for any problems that occur with your personally-owned computer, whether or not these seem to result from IT's installation of software.
• IT will responsibly secure your equipment while working on it, but your own insurance must cover loss in the unlikely event your computer is stolen while on ASU premises.

IT does not provide troubleshooting services for computers not owned by ASU. If you are having problems with your operating system or software, you should take your computer to an outside professional.

Network Services

A variety of services are available that allow for visiting machines to access the network via campus laptop connections and SecuRemote, but domain management activities in place for ASU-owned machines could put visiting machines at risk when joined to an ASU domain. Non-ASU machines, visiting or permanent, cannot be joined to ASU domains.

Hardware Services

IT does not provide hardware services for computers not owned by ASU. If you are having problems with hardware or if you need hardware installed, you should take your computer to an outside professional.