CIS Computer Upgrade Program Redesign

In the past year, we have been redesigning the CIS computer upgrade program (CUP).  We started with a new program document, which Cabinet reviewed and approved in November 2018.  Then we started working on procedures and workflow, all with the aim of getting to a more streamlined program.  We are not there yet, but we have made progress.

The program tries to balance multiple considerations, many of which are in direct competition with one another:

• We have a budget for this program of about $75,000 annually
• We have an additional $29,000 this year, to help with the increasing backlog of older systems on campus
• We want to provide an adequate baseline of computers — but the program is not the sole source of funding for computers
• There number of computers eligible for upgrade is growing, with staff and faculty headcount increases
• Apple equipment is more expensive than Dell equipment
• Security — older computers can be more vulnerable
• We need to maintain fairness (not first come, first served)

The core ideas of the new program include an increased number of standard systems, a website where you can help us maintain our inventory, check whether you have a system that is eligible for upgrade and, when you are eligible, select a new system.  This is still a work in progress, but we have sent out emails to many of the faculty that have computer that are four years old or older.

We hope that this new program will strike you as an appropriate balancing of the considerations I mentioned above.