MHC's employee computer policy for purchasing new machines and replacing existing ones.
Overview
All computers purchased with College funds — including LITS funds, grants and endowed, departmental, research or special funds — must be requested through LITS. They are considered College property and must be tagged and added to the College's computer inventory database maintained by LITS.
On this page:
Employee-assigned computers
If an employee works less than 20 hours per week, they may not be eligible for an employee-assigned computer. In these circumstances, the employee's department often has a shared office computer available for them to use as needed.
Primary employee-assigned computers
Upon request, LITS funds, procures, and supports one base model computer per employee when computer usage is required as part of a position's job responsibilities. This is considered their primary assigned computer. Base model primary computers are replaced with LITS funding on a 4-5 year replacement cycle.
Upgraded models and early replacements require supplemental funding.
Learn more about and request employee-assigned computers.
Extra employee-assigned computers
Employees who need an extra computer to do their job must provide departmental, grant, research, or other funding for that computer. The Dean of Faculty and Financial Services have mandated a limit of two total computers per employee purchased with College funding sources. Employees with an operational need for having more than two computers assigned to them must gain approval first through the Dean of Faculty (for faculty) or Financial Services (for staff).
Extra computer requests are evaluated by LITS for technical needs and supportability and in consultation with Officers, Deans or Department Chairs/Directors for operational considerations. The evaluation process considers operational needs, past precedents, available financial and support resources and competing needs. Some extra computer purchases may not be fully supported by LITS.
Learn more about and request employee-assigned computers.
In the context of faculty research, the line between an "extra" computer and a "lab/research" computer can be a bit fuzzy. Review our
service page about lab and research computers to see if that is a better fit for your use case.
Computer accessories
Every employee is entitled to one base model monitor, keyboard, and mouse to complete their desk set up. Additional computer accessories beyond the basic set up options require additional funding.
Computer accessories may be requested as part of an employee-assigned computer request or as a stand-alone computer accessory request.
Accessibility accommodations
Employees requesting an upgraded or extra computer or accessories related to an accessibility accommodation must work through Human Resources. LITS will act on Human Resources’ recommendation. Additional costs associated with an accommodation will be covered by HR.
Software maintenance
Employees agree to abide by the software update recommendations to keep their computer(s) up to date.
Support and repairs
Employee-assigned computers are fully supported by LITS and can be repaired as needed. LITS manages repairs and support with Dell and Apple.
If you have a hardware issue with your MHC-owned computer, submit a computer hardware support ticket.
Office moves
If an employee moves their office location, they should take their assigned computer(s) with them. Employees should also notify LITS when they are moving to a new location so that inventory records can be updated accordingly.
Additional information about what to do when you move offices.
Informally re-assigning computers
Employees may NOT give their assigned computer to another employee. Only LITS may re-assign a computer from one employee to another.
Per the College's Acceptable Use of Information Technology policy, an employee's primary and extra computer(s) MUST be returned to LITS if they no longer work for the College. For more guidance related to employee departures, review the LITS Guide for departing faculty and staff.
An employee-assigned computer request should be submitted for any new employee(s) hired when someone else leaves. Even if the same computer may ultimately be assigned back to someone in your department, LITS must re-image the computer (wipe it and install a fresh copy of the operating system on it) and make sure that it is properly assigned to the correct person in our computer management systems.
End-of-life for employee-assigned computers
When computers have reached their replacement date, the employee they're assigned to departs the College, or is otherwise no longer needed, they MUST be returned to LITS.
Machines that CAN run supported operating systems...
...will be placed back in LITS' inventory as used computers that could be re-purposed as shared office computers for up to 2 years as needed (often for student employees).
- If the computer was originally purchased with non-LITS funding, the funding party has the right of first refusal if they want it back as a shared office computer.
- These re-purposed computers are not replaced on a rotation cycle. They should not be relied upon for critical tasks and may only be used as long as they can meet security standards, generally 1-2 years.
- If a critical need exists to add a new computer to the College’s standard rotating inventory, a request should be submitted to allocate a new machine. Re-purposed machines should not be used to fulfill critical College needs.
Machines that CANNOT run supported operating systems...
...will be wiped and recycled. Their hard drives will be shredded.