Technology Replacement Plan
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The College of DuPage has initiated a cyclic Technology Replacement Plan to ensure that all technology on campus is kept up-to-date. Previously only computers in academic labs and a small portion of administrative areas were updated on a regular cycle. Many computers on campus were not under any formal replacement plan. The result was a wide variance in the capabilities of computers within a department, time consuming ordering process and a costly cascading process.

To address these issues, most computers, networked printers and projections systems on campus have been placed on a replacement cycle. There are three separate processes to replace the technology:

The goals of the technology replacement plan are to: 

1. Assure that appropriate computing resources are available in shared and departmental computing facilities, classrooms, and college offices to support the mission of the institution;
2. Assure that each faculty and staff member who uses computing resources in his or her position has a computer of sufficient capability to fulfill his/her responsibilities;
3. Implement minimum standards for computing equipment on campus (first adopted in 1997, and reviewed annually by the Information Technology Advisory Committee) and promote uniformity of technology levels within an area; 
4. Ease resource and financial planning by reducing the effort involved in departmental budgeting and planning for new computers.  Eliminate the need to request capital equipment reviews, write requisitions, and request installations
5. Provide for the cost effective and timely purchasing and installation of new equipment while decreasing the deployment time for new equipment; and
6. Expedite the disposal of old equipment.

Administrative Areas Technology Replacement Process

The Administrative Areas Replacement Process covers all PC and Macintosh workstations, networked printers, and portable/fixed projection systems not assigned to a faculty member or installed in a classroom or lab. It includes workstations for all classified staff and administrators as well as general use computers shared in a department or used by student workers. Areas which are funded on a cost recovery basis, such as Community and Continuing Education or BPI, are not covered under this plan.

The process calls for the replacement of all administrative PCs every five years. To accomplish this goal, the College has been divided geographically into four equal parts, based on the number of administrative computers in each area. Each year new computers will be provided to all Administrative users in each of these areas. 

To accomplish this goal a timetable has been established.

The process will start again with Year 1 computers in July 2010.

The process covers only replacement of existing College owned workstations in the designated areas. PC’s for new positions/uses are funded out of departmental capital. The plan also covers existing laptops, shared workgroup printers, and both fixed and mobile computer projection systems.  These items will be inventoried and evaluated during the workstation installation process and installed as the replacement equipment arrives on campus.

There will be approximately 200 new workstations installed each fiscal year under the Administrative Areas Replacement Process. IT estimates that the majority of all new installs for a fiscal year can be completed in 8 weeks. 

Request for Exceptions to Administrative Areas Replacement Process

In some situations users may be required to run special software or perform unique tasks as part of their assigned job duties, and may need a computer with more memory, a faster processor, or a larger hard disk than the one they currently are using. Users in this situation may request that their workstation be evaluated to determine an appropriate upgrade path. IT may recommend additional memory, a larger hard drive, or possibly a newer workstation. The user’s department will pay for system upgrades. Replacement systems will come from the limited pool of systems ordered for this purpose.

While we expect that the majority of requests will come at the beginning of the fiscal year, requests will be reviewed throughout the year to handle unforeseen changes in job duties, etc.

Please email the helpdesk to request an exception to the Administrative Area Replacement Process.

View more information about the installation process.

Faculty Technology Replacement Process

The Faculty Technology Replacement Process covers replacement of computer workstations and shared suite printers assigned to full-time faculty at the College of DuPage.  The process calls for the replacement of desktop computers every five years and laptop computers every four years.  To accomplish this goal a timetable for the replacement of faculty workstations has been established by the Faculty Technology Advisory Committee.

Exceptions to the timetable and platform changes will be handled through the FTAC Proposal Process.

View more information about the installation process.

Classroom/Lab Technology Replacement Process

The Classroom/Lab Technology Replacement Process covers student and instructor workstations in computer labs, Technology Enhanced Classrooms, traditional classrooms, laboratories, and the library.  The process covers workstations, workgroup printers, classroom projection systems, classroom document cameras as well as laptops, portable projection systems, and document cameras distributed by the Library’s AV Distribution department.  Areas which are funded on a cost recovery basis, such as Community and Continuing Education or BPI, are not covered under this plan.

The process calls for the replacement of PCs and Macintoshes every five years.  To accomplish this goal, the College has created a timetable for the replacement of lab/classroom technology.  The timetable is reviewed in the Spring of each year by faculty, their deans, and IT staff as part of the IT planning process.  Based on the feedback received, adjustments are made to ensure that appropriate technology resources are available in each area.

View more information about the installation process.

Installation Process

One week prior to the start of the installations, a communication will be sent to various departments to announce the timeframe for replacements.  IT staff will set up specific installation dates with each area as they ready to install in an area. 

  • For administrative areas, IT plans to start in the lowest numbered room in an area and work their way up through all areas.  Exceptions to this schedule can be made with the Manager of Office and Classroom Technology.
  • Installations for faculty members will be scheduled with the FTAC coordinator.  The FTAC coordinator will be assisted by other IT staff and outside contractors to expedite the installation process.
  • For classrooms/labs, installations are scheduled with the affected classroom or lab area to ensure that impact on instruction in minimized and that the technology is implemented as quickly as is feasible. IT staff is assisted by student employees during this installation process.
  • IT staff and contractors will need approximately 2 ˝ hours per workstation.
  • COD’s standard software (see Technology Guidelines and Procedures for details) will be installed on all workstations.  Non-standard software will not be replaced without proof of license and original installation disks or CDs.  Please be aware that some older software may be too outdated to install successfully and may need to be upgraded. 
  • For non-classroom/lab computers, the contents of the user’s data folders will be transferred to the new workstation.  (\My Documents on Windows workstations, or a user designated folder on Macintosh computers.)  Please make sure all data files are stored within this designated folder.
  • Bookmarks from Netscape and IE will be copied to the new computer.
  • Please note that individual customizations, such as toolbars, screen savers, and desktop items may be lost and will need to be recreated by the user.
  • IT will remove replaced workstations for reassignment as determined. 

 
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