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College of Chemical and Life Sciences Information Technology
Support Structure and Standards Policy
Contents
Goals and Sturcture
The goals of the CLFS Information Technology Group (CLFS-ITG) are twofold:
1. To provide effective technical support services to The College of Chemical and Life Sciences.
2. To assist with direction, acquisition, and use of the technological tools that further the success of the College in research, teaching, and administration.
The technology support structure for The College of Chemical and Life Sciences seeks to leverage the benefits of both a dispersed and a centralized organization which is comprised of one Computer Manager or System Administrator in each department (including the Dean's Unit), an Academic Technology Coordinator, the Director of Information Technology, and a team of student assistants. These technical support positions form the College of Chemical and Life Sciences Information Technology Group (CLFS-ITG).
Some of the tasks that this group addresses include: purchasing and deploying new computers, connecting computers to the campus network, installing software, upgrading hardware, providing troubleshooting services, managing college and departmental web pages, administering college servers, and providing user assistance. In addition, this group helps direct and plan the acquisition, deployment, and use of technology. The Director of IT builds synergy between the Computer Managers/System Administrators, works to develop partnerships/agreements with the IT sector and helps guide the direction of information technology at the College level. The IT Coordinator provides desktop level support for the College unit and the Academic Technology Coordinator (ATC) assists faculty with research and instructional technologies. The ATC also functions as the College's liaison with OIT.
To assist us in meeting our IT goals, the CLFS-ITG has formed several partnerships and agreements with other technology groups on and off campus. In particular, OIT offers a wide range of support services that is available to the College. The CLFS-ITG maintains a Web site that provides general IT information for the College: http://www.life.umd.edu/ITG
In an effort to provide comprehensive technical support, the CLFS-ITG has attempted to meet all of the requests in an effective and timely manner. Owing to the variety of computing technology in our College and resource constraints, this has become an increasingly difficult task. The result is that individuals do not receive adequate support and the College as a whole is less effective. In addition, our technical support staff have not been able to devote the time necessary to learn, evaluate, and deploy new technologies that would help to further the success of our College.
Our hope is that the following Computer Technology Support and Standards Policy will focus support efforts and create a more balanced and effective computing infrastructure for the College. Although the CLFS-ITG will not be able to directly support every technology used in the College, we will facilitate support when needed and refer users to additional resources.
This Policy will be updated on a regular basis to reflect new technologies. The details and implementation of this document will be modified and applied at the departmental level. Bearing in mind the increasing dependence across campus on Information Technology, it is critical that all members of the College understand and abide by the guidelines set forth in the University of Maryland’s Guidelines for the Acceptable Use of Computing Resources document.
What group advises or makes this policy?
This policy was developed with broad consultation from constituencies throughout the College and direct input from each member of the CLFS-ITG. Each unit in our College is represented in the CLFS IT Group, and it is the responsibility of each member to bring to this group their unit's IT issues needs and desires. This policy was reviewed and approved by the Dean and Department Chairs.
The goal is a College-wide policy with departments having a supplemental support document that addresses department-specific concerns and any changes from the College-wide policy.
Hardware Standards for CLFS
Hardware Support: The CLFS-ITG will support all computer equipment purchased by The College of Chemical and Life Sciences and which is listed in the Current Supported Hardware and New Supported Hardware tables below. The IT Group's aim is to encourage the purchase of high quality business-line computers at quite reasonable prices. The CLFS-ITG does not recommend getting the cheapest computer possible; stable, higher-end systems will have a longer life cycle and better meet computing needs over time.
Currently Supported Hardware
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PC |
Mac |
Desktop |
Pentium II or newer |
All Power PC & Intel models |
Laptop |
Pentium II or newer |
All Power PC & Intel models |
Laser Printers |
Outsource: AMA* |
Outsource: AMA* |
* Allison Matthews Associates is the printer service provider for our College
Other peripherals (such as scanners, digital cameras, PDA's, and multimedia devices) will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. The user of these hardware components should be prepared to support them in some cases.
New Supported Hardware
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PC |
Mac |
Desktop |
Dell Optiplex** |
Mac Pro, G5, G4, iMac, eMac, Mac Mini |
Laptop |
Dell Latitude** |
MacBook, PowerBook G4, iBook |
Laser Printer |
Hewlett-Packard (HP) |
Hewlett-Packard (HP) |
New PC's should be ordered with the Windows XP Professional operating system.
**When evaluating desktop and laptop solutions for the College, the IT Group looked for a long product availability cycle, configuration and component stability, and highly serviceable design. The Optiplex line of desktops and the Latitude line of notebooks satisfied these requirements admirably and were hence selected as the Group's recommendations. Dell's Dimension and Inspiron lines change frequently and do not have consistency of components -- factors which contribute to questionable reliability and serviceability.
Recommended Configuration for New Systems
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PC |
Mac |
Operating System |
Windows XP Professional SP2 |
OS X |
Processor |
P4 2 GHz or greater |
G5 or Intel 2 GHz or greater |
Memory |
1 GB |
1 GB |
Hard Drive |
160 GB |
160 GB |
Display |
17” flat panel (15” for laptops) |
17” flat panel (15” for laptops) |
Networking |
3Com 10/100/1000 Ethernet Adapter (On-Campus) |
3Com 10/100/1000 Ethernet Adapter (On-Campus) |
Media |
CD-R/W or DVD+/- RW Drive |
CD-R/W or DVD+/- RW Drive |
Hardware Not Supported:*
- The CLFS-ITG will not be able to support equipment that is not purchased with the advice of the Computer Manager / System Administrator or does not comply with the College's Current Supported Hardware or New Supported Hardware lists.
- Computers that are continually used for purposes other than University business.
- Computers whose internal components have been accessed without the involvement or knowledge of the ITG.
- Home computers not owned by the University.
- Computers purchased second hand (i.e. Terrapin Trader)
- Legacy Hardware PC: first generation Pentium machines, 486 processor, and older Mac: first-generation Power PC machines, non Power PC, and older ( Working laboratory instruments that require legacy hardware will be supported to the extent possible, given time and resource constraints.)
* We recognize that there will be specific needs for hardware that is not listed above. These special needs will be supported to the extent possible. Additional support from the vendor should be purchased (e.g., extended service agreements) when non-standard hardware is purchased. Discipline-specific hardware will be supported to the extent possible. For the most part, however, these hardware devices are best understood by those who use them. It is neither feasible nor practical for the CLFS-ITG to acquire and maintain expertise in all software or hardware utilized in the College. Every effort will be made, however, to provide support or guidance to additional resources. Please note that external support may incur a fee for services.
Software Standards for CLFS
Support: The CLFS-ITG will support the software listed in the table below and any additional software that is agreed upon by the Department Chair and Computer Manager or System Administrator of that department. These additions will form the Departmental Supplement Software List.
We recognize that a diverse collection of applications is required to meet the varying needs of the disciplines within the College. Discipline-specific applications will be supported to the extent possible. For the most part, however, these special applications are better understood by those who use them.
Supported Software:
Software |
PC |
Mac |
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| Office suite |
Microsoft Office 97, 2000, 2003 |
Microsoft Office 98, 2001, X, 2004 |
Email |
Outlook
Outlook Express
Eudora
Thunderbird
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Apple Mail
Entourage
Eudora |
Web Browsers |
Internet Explorer 6.0+
Mozilla/Firefox |
Internet Explorer 5.0+
Safari
Mozilla/Firefox
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Calendaring System |
Corporate Time |
Corporate Time |
Database |
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FileMaker Pro |
Telnet/TN3270/FTP |
Hummingbird suite
WS-FTP
F-Secure SSH
WinSCP
Putty
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NCSA Telnet
Nifty Telnet (SSH)
MacSSH
Fetch
OS X Terminal
Fugu |
Web Editing |
Dreamweaver |
Dreamweaver |
Image Editing |
Adobe PhotoShop |
Adobe PhotoShop |
Bibliographic |
EndNote |
EndNote |
File Extraction |
WinZip |
StuffIt Expander |
PDF |
Acrobat |
Acrobat |
| Virus |
Norton, McAfee |
Virex |
*UNIX and LINUX support is available on a limited basis from within the College. A source of expertise on these operating systems exists within the Information Technology Group, and we may leverage this resource across the College. In addition, support for Unix systems in the College can be outsourced with OIT, UMIACS, or another Unix support provider off-campus. As with all service requests, those for UNIX or LINUX support should first be addressed to your Departmental Computer Manager or System Administrator.
- Any application that has not been legally obtained for the machine on which it is installed.
- Applications that are not on the College standards list or the Departmental supplemental software list.
- Applications that are not being used for College or University business.
Network and Server Support
The CLFS-ITG:
- will provide support for attaching and configuring computers and printers to the campus Ethernet network.
- supports and administers a Novell NetWare Sever for the entire college; LIFENW. These severs provide file storage, file sharing, FTP, and network printing services. All Faculty, Staff and graduate students can receive an account on one of these servers.
- supports and administers three web servers for the college. These include: www.life.umd.edu, www.chem.umd.edu and www.entm.umd.edu. These servers provide space for faculty and staff to post information on the Web.
- coordinates arrangements for the installation of network jacks and for data port activation.
Wireless
The CLFS IT Group will coordinate with the Office of Information Technology (OIT) to provide wireless access when necessary. Please note that OIT charges wireless installation and maintenance fees for this service.
Not Supported:
Resource constraints make it impossible for our technical staff to support local area networks (LANs), routers, peer-to-peer networking solutions, or additional servers. On campus workstations, laptops and PDA's which are not assigned an IP address from the campus Network Operation Center can not be supported by the CLFS-ITG.
High Performance and Grid Computing
The ITG is currently working with The Lattice Project and The Office of Information Technology to continue improving our high performance computing (HPC) resources. A College faculty lead committee is being assembled which will function to assess the need and guide the direction of our HPC resources.
Service Priorities:
In general, a problem that affects many people will take precedence over a service that affects a single person. Problems that inhibit the continuation of one's work take precedence over annoyances, problems that have viable work-arounds, or requests for personal preferences.
Each department maintains labs of various sizes, functions, and with an array of equipment. Please see a department’s supplement to this document for a description of its labs.
Departments may have equipment that can be borrowed for short-term use (e.g., laptops, digital cameras). Please see a department’s supplement to this document for its lending policy and available equipment.
Feel free to consult your department’s Computer Manager or System Administrator or the CLFS College’s Academic Technology Coordinator to inquire about specific training needs or interests (e.g., creating a Web site, using WebCT/Blackboard effectively and efficiently, working with digital images, etc.). The CLFS-ITG can assist in providing the appropriate training resource and experience.
Additional training can be obtained from OIT’s network of training opportunities, which draws upon the expertise of skilled Instructional Designers who specialize in technology training and development.
Advice on Personal Computer Purchases
Personal computers may be purchased through the Academic Computers for Terps program. The CLFS-ITG can provide information for those who wish to purchase computer systems for their personal use at home. See the guideline on the CLFS-ITG Web site new system configurations. Departments within the College may also have specific software or hardware recommendations. Keep in mind that home computers not owned by the University are not support.
OIT maintains a site of University-recommended hardware and software that may be useful in making purchasing decisions. These recommendations are based on University use, but may be relevant to individual, personal computing needs as well. Please see the University’s recommended minimum requirements for a computer purchased for UM use as a set of general guidelines.
Microsoft Product Licensing Agreement
Many vendors (e.g., Dell, Apple, Gateway) offer discounts to university faculty, staff, and students. Additionally, the University System of Maryland has entered into a licensing agreement with Microsoft to provide many Microsoft products to University faculty and staff at a very reduced cost for use on their personal machines at home. (Use of the products is valid only while the individual is employed by a University System of Maryland institution.) You should be aware of these options before purchasing a computer, as the bundled software on a new computer may be more expensive than purchasing through the University.
Please see The Microsoft Enterprise Agreement with the University of Maryland, College Park for further details and purchasing procedures.
McAfee Total Virus Defense Suite Licensing Agreement
A software licensing agreement exists to enable faculty and staff home use of the McAfee Total Virus Defense Suite, with the same general terms of use as those for the Microsoft agreement. Adequate virus protection should be a priority, so please visit OIT’s Anti-Virus site for further details about protecting your home machine.
Additional Resources
The following Web sites may be helpful in providing general help and definitions. If you have any on-line resources which you find useful, please submit them to us, and we shall add them to the list.
Departmental Policy Supplements
Each department may have supplemental hardware, software, or recommendations that pertain to specific needs within the department. Please see a department's supplemental page for further information:
- Biology: Policy is the same as that for the College.
- Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics: Policy is the same as that for the College.
- Chemistry/Biochemistry
- Entomology
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