UH-Victoria

Office of the Vice President for
Administration and Finance

SECTION: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDEX: G-3

SUBJECT: CAMPUS-WIDE TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

POLICY

The university will establish and maintain technical support services for faculty, staff, students, and office operations in the following areas:

  • Faculty & staff microcomputers and software
  • Help Desk functions
  • Academic services, including
    • Microlabs
    • Classroom Technology Support
    • Interactive Video Operations
    • Instructional Support
  • On-line course development & delivery support
  • Web services
  • Network services
  • Application servers
  • Telephone services
  • Training on technology topics
  • Portable computing
  • Other technology services

The university will develop standards, security processes, and operations to support each of these areas to meet the needs of the institution. The department of Information Technology (I.T.) is responsible for enacting and enforcing this policy unless otherwise indicated in the procedures.

PROCEDURES

Faculty & Staff Microcomputers and Software

All full-time faculty and staff will be provided a computer to use for university business. The standard configuration for staff is a desktop unit. Full-time faculty have the option of the standard desktop configuration or a laptop system with a docking station. These computers are maintained by the Help Desk operations of I.T. These systems are also replaced on an established replacement cycle (determined by the Budget Committee) for all full-time faculty and staff computers and student lab computers. All other computers (for part-time employees, special functions, etc.) are upgraded with older and/or restored computers or as requested through budget cycle requests. Department heads and school deans make the decisions of which computers in their respective areas are replaced or upgraded.

I.T. is responsible for providing a standard set of software for all university-owned microcomputers. That list is maintained on-line at Software Support

Software other than what is shown in the list mentioned above may be used, but only with appropriate licensing. The cost of that software is the responsibility of the requesting department or school unless otherwise negotiated and approved through the budget process. Support of software other than the standard set is the responsibility of the department that made the purchase.

I.T. is also responsible for providing software for the campus computer labs. I.T. provides funding for the software based on requests received prior to the budgeting process. Requests outside of this process will be the responsibility of the requesting department.

I.T. maintains computer hardware standards at Recommended Practices and printer standards at Printer Support

I.T. maintains a computer replacement cycle process for the university. Details of that process can be found at Computer Replacement

Help Desk Functions

I.T. will provide and maintain recommended practices for efficient and effective use of technological resources. Details can be found at Recommended Practices

User assistance is provided through the I.T. Help Desk. The Help Desk is staffed by experienced personnel who are responsible for responding to all calls and logging all activity for each call received. Help Desk provides services for faculty and staff and assists with student systems. The Help Desk personnel will respond to calls concerning university owned hardware and software, and provide services for university owned microcomputers, peripherals and networks. Calls requiring any expenditure of funds out of the ordinary are referred to the appropriate budgetary authority. Requests for upgrades to software and/or hardware are to be made by contacting the Help Desk.

Academic Services

I.T. is responsible for providing microcomputer support for student and classroom use. Student support is provided through microcomputer labs located in the University Center. Two types of labs are provided: teaching labs, for scheduled use by faculty in support of hands-on instruction; and open labs, which provide access for students outside of scheduled class time. Open labs cannot be scheduled, allowing students to always have access to computers during operating hours. Software in these labs is the standard software used throughout the campus, and may include other software requested by faculty in support of academic programs. For details about lab software see Standard Lab Software

Classroom computer support is provided through:

  • An installed integrated setup that includes a computer, projector, speakers, document camera, VCR and lectern
  • Mobile carts with a computer and projector that can be reserved for classroom use. Call 361-570-4393 (Ext. 4393) or 361-570-4390 (Ext. 4390) for availability or reservations.

I.T. also provides and supports Interactive Video operations (ITV) for instructional delivery and video conferencing.

On-line Course Development & Delivery Support

Support services for online courses are available for faculty for course design, development, and accessibility, and for student support in online classes. This support is provided by the On-Line Technicians in each of the academic schools.

Web Services

I.T. provides Web Services for faculty, staff and students. The university’s main web page, (http://www.uhv.edu), is the primary access for information about the university and access to university services. A second web page, (http://www2.uhv.edu), provides web support for academic uses, including faculty pages and classroom pages. Additional information about web services may be found in the Web Development Guidelines (Web Development).

Network Services

Standards: I.T. has established the following standards:

  • Campus LAN – Ethernet architecture supporting TCP/IP protocols
  • Inter-building links - fiber optic cables to a central hub
  • Intra-building links - copper wiring
  • Wide area link - Fiber optic cable into the Lonestar Education and Research Network (LEARN)

LAN: Computer network resources are provided through local area networks (LAN) throughout the campus. The LAN uses Ethernet architecture and support TCP/IP protocols. Connections between buildings are via fiber optic cables. UHV maintains an internal local area network for all campus users.

WAN: Wide Area Network (WAN) support is provided through a high-speed data communication link between Victoria and Houston to the University of Houston. It is maintained to provide access for our users to the University of Houston System, other UH System campuses, and the Internet.

Application Servers

I.T. maintains several servers for various campus services such as email, file storage and sharing, print services and other applications. Access to these services is controlled by the issuance of user ID’s and passwords. Faculty, staff and administrators obtain user ID’s by completing and submitting a UHV Faculty/Staff Account Application (Faculty/Staff application) to the Systems Administrator in I.T. Each semester student accounts are created by an automated process. Accounts are created with password protection to insure access security. Password guidelines (Password Guidelines) and Acceptable Use Policy for Technology Resources (UHV Administrative Policy and Procedure, G-2) are issued with the user ID and password.

I.T. performs backup procedures on a regular basis to protect all centralized data storage. I.T. creates electronic mail backup tapes daily (Monday through Friday) solely for the purpose of restoring the entire electronic mail system in the event of disaster. A complete weekly backup is performed on the weekend. Selected weekly backups are reserved for a monthly backup, and selected monthly backups are retained for an annual backup. The most recent monthly backup is stored off-site. Backup tapes do not allow for restoration of individual mailboxes and cannot be used as a convenience to retrieve "deleted" messages.

Telephone Services

I.T. supplies and/or coordinates voice/telephone services for all of the University of Houston-Victoria campus. Telephone, Phone Mail and Long Distance services are provided for staff and faculty for approved UHV usage only. All these services are charged back to the employee's school or department.

Extension numbers on campus are 3 digits in length. They can either be DID (Direct Inward Dialing) or non-DID numbers. DID numbers are those that can be called directly from outside the university, for example (361) 570-4389 is Ext. 4389. Non-DID numbers are extensions that can only be reached directly from on campus or from a transfer from the switchboard or another on-campus phone.

Phone Mail boxes come with a capacity of 10 messages, including saved messages. Additional storage space for PhoneMail boxes is available upon request by contacting the Telecomm Specialist at 361-570-4389 (Ext. 4389). Excessive storage space requests may result in additional charges to the department/school. Phone Mail can be requested via either Telephone Add Request or Change in Service Request listed below.

Long Distance (LD) Authorization Codes are available to faculty and staff. These codes are provided with the approval from the department head or school dean. LD Authorization Codes can be requested via either Telephone Add Request or Change in Service Request forms listed below.

Requests for voice service should be coordinated with the department head/school dean.

The following forms are required for the indicated services:

To reporting a problem with a university phone, complete and submit a Trouble Ticket

I.T. will establish and maintain telephone number lists for university phones at Telephone list

Training on Technology Topics

Each long semester, I.T. schedules courses ranging from 1 to 3 hours in a variety of technology topics, typically involving the campus standard software. All faculty and staff are invited to sign-up and attend. Course materials and the course delivery are provided without charge to attendees. Schedules are announced during the first few weeks of the fall and spring semesters, and all courses provide evaluation forms to promote improvements in delivery and range of offerings. Upon request from deans, department heads, and center directors, these or similar training sessions can be scheduled at remote centers. Schools and departments are also able to request specialized training to be developed and delivered by I.T. As budgets allow, departments or schools may also arrange for speakers or trainers to be brought in to provide needed training in their areas.

Finally, when demand warrants, I.T. will purchase computer-based, video-based, or internet-based training on topics that are requested. Departments and schools must request this training resource prior to budget hearings so funds can be requested to support them.

Portable Computing

Portable computing is supported in much the same way as desktop computing, with the exception of the location and connectivity of the equipment. The user is responsible for maintaining the equipment in good working order while traveling with the equipment. IT can provide assistance in getting connectivity at remote locations; but, it is advisable to get that information prior to traveling.

Approved:

Signature Obtained                 03/25/2009
Tim Hudson, Ph.D.                 Date
President

Next review date:   March 2011
Origination: Information Technology

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