Service Level Agreement for Computer & Software Support

software Computer Service

Scope of Service Level Agreement (SLA)

This document defines University Information Services (UIS) support for the computing environment for faculty, staff and student desktop and laptop computers. The computing environment includes the health and workability of the computer itself, and of monitors, mice, keyboards and other peripherals, and the computer’s ability to communicate with other computers and printers on the wired and wireless networks. The terms of this SLA do not specifically apply to enterprise data systems, health record systems, learning management systems, servers, websites, network or telephony infrastructure, technology purchasing, or events support.

Depending on the nature of a technical issue, some help requests may be forwarded on to technical specialists outside of UIS (e.g. Library Systems Support or Marketing and Communications Web Team specialists). The terms of this Service Level Agreement do not apply to help requests forwarded on to these specialists.

General Philosophy of Support

The job of UIS is to support the computing needs for students, faculty and staff of Pacific University. As UIS’ staff time is limited, support must be prioritized based on two factors: the ability of UIS to support the technology in question and the impact on the core mission of the university of the support need.

Avoiding Support Delays

Our knowledge base article: Contacting Support contains instructions on contacting technology support resources at Pacific.

When submitting a help request, any of the following can cause a delay in successful resolution of the request:

Contacting a UIS staff member directly (e.g. by email or voicemail) rather than using our central help phone, Zoom lines, or ticketing system.
Providing an incomplete description of the problem. Whenever an error message is shown, please be sure to copy down the entire error message and provide it when making a help request.
Giving incomplete information about the urgency or timing factors affecting the help request.
Failure to provide ample lead time when making a request for a known future need (e.g. onboarding a new employee, offboarding an existing employee, support for a scheduled event, support for an office move, making technology purchases, adding software to UIS-managed labs in preparation for an academic term).

Student Technology Support

A student's primary computer is the one computer that the student owns and uses most often for their academic work. Any other computers a student uses are considered secondary computers.

For students, UIS support of their technology is as follows (refer to Support Levels, below for further definitions):

The ability of a primary computer, that meets UIS' basic Computer Recommendations, to connect to wireless, printing and UIS-supported web services is Fully Supported.
The ability of a primary computer, that does not meet UIS' basic Computer Recommendations, to connect to wireless, printing and UIS-supported web services is Partially Supported.
Hardware repairs, operating system errors, malware removal and data transfer to/from a student's primary computer is Partially Supported.
Students' Secondary Computers are Not Supported.
Ability of a student's mobile devices (phones and tablets), running the latest operating systems, to connect to university wireless is Fully Supported.
Ability of a student's primary computer to connect to the wired (Ethernet) network in the residence halls is Fully Supported. (Students may have to purchase external Ethernet adapters for their devices.)
Ability of a student's game consoles, smart speakers, streaming TV devices to connect to the wired or wireless networks is Partially Supported.

Support Levels for Technologies

A technology's support level does not affect who pays for repairs and replacements. For this, see Who Pays For What. Nor does a technology's funding source (e.g. whether it was grant funded, or gifted to the university) affect its support level.

Full Support

This category encompasses technology that has been suggested and sanctioned by UIS as the basic suite of tools provided for faculty, staff and students to accomplish their core job duties and academic work. UIS staff is trained on the use and troubleshooting of these technologies. There is no limit on the amount of time UIS staff will spend to either restore the basic operability of these technologies or find acceptable alternatives when these technologies fail. Fully supported technologies include:

Dell and Apple computers (and peripherals), of UIS standard models, issued by or purchased through UIS, with a UIS “standard” software load on them.
Monitors.
HP networked laser printers, issued by or purchased through UIS.
The most recent Microsoft Office suites for Windows and Mac.
The most recent versions of Google Chrome (Windows and Mac), Safari (Mac) and Firefox Extended Support Release (Windows and Mac).
UIS issued anti-virus and anti-malware software.
Software currently included in our standard software load for UIS-deployed faculty/staff computers, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader.
iPads purchased through UIS and capable of running a supported operating system..
Zoom video teleconferencing.

Partial Support

These are technologies that UIS is not able to fully support due to age, lack of adequate manufacturer/vendor support, or because they fall outside the core suite of technologies that UIS staff are fully trained in supporting. UIS will allow the purchase of and use of these technologies, and will attempt to provide user-training and technical assistance for them. However, we will only provide support in as much as doing so does not interfere with our ability to support Fully Supported technology. If, at any time while working on a help request, we find that support of a Partially Supported technology is interfering with our ability to support Fully Supported technologies, we will give the user a list of possible non-UIS help resources and/or possible purchases that would be better supported by UIS, and then will close the help request.

Partial Support technologies include:

Non-current versions of software that is listed in the Full Support section.
Pacific email accessed via Outlook and the Google Workspace Sync tool.
Multifunction, ink-jet, non-networked, and/or non-HP printers.
Scientific instrumentation and any attached non-standard computers.
Adobe Creative Cloud.
Non-iPad tablets and netbook computers.
Non-Dell, non-Apple computers.
Non-English versions of operating systems or software.
Any non-Zoom video teleconferencing (e.g. Skype, Google Video Chat or iChat).
Any software that has been approved by UIS for purchase but that is not in the Fully Supported section.
Employee and student access to wireless and email on their personally owned mobile devices.
Filemaker (latest version)
The most recent SPSS statistics package

No Support

These are technologies that are not sanctioned for use by UIS and UIS does not offer any support for.

Filemaker (previous versions).
Non-Microsoft productivity programs or suites (iWork, Word Perfect, Open Office).
Filesharing programs (BitTorrent, LimeWire, eMule).
Servers not maintained by UIS.
University owned computers running Linux, Unix, Windows RT, Windows Embedded, Windows Home, Windows Server, or any other non-standard operating system.
Windows running on Apple hardware.
Personally-owned computers of faculty and staff.
Polycom-based video teleconferencing.
Computers or other technology devices used by Pacific University employees for work purposes, but owned by another organization or company.
Access to email by means other than Microsoft Outlook, the Outlook app, and the official web interface for that email system.

Not Allowed

As per the Workstation Security and Use Policy, UIS can disallow insecure or harmful technology (including hardware, software and operating systems) from use on University owned computers and networks. Technology which is currently not allowed includes:

Any operating system that is not currently supported (via security updates) by its publisher.
Any computer or tablet hardware incapable of running a currently supported operating system.
Any software not capable of running on a currently supported operating system.
Any version of Microsoft Office that is not currently receiving security updates from Microsoft.
Quicktime for Windows
Adobe Flash
University work files stored on cloud storage solutions other than Zoom, Moodle, Google Drive via BoxerApps, or Box.
Any software not currently receiving security updates by its manufacturer and/or that the UIS Chief Information Security Officer or Security Analyst deems a significant security or privacy threat.

Offline Systems

Technology that would otherwise be categorized as Not Allowed may be categorized as Partial Support where it is permanently made unable to connect to the internet. This may mean disabling (by physical or software means) wireless and wired networking hardware on the device. Devices with non-supported operating systems can also be allowed with a special accommodation and appropriate security measures from UIS.

Pacific Owned Computers at Home

UIS supports the use of Pacific-owned computers at home by Pacific employees, as well as university-owned computer accessories such as keyboards, mice and monitors, with the following caveats:

Employees should be aware of their responsibilities and liabilities when taking any university owned equipment off-site.
Clinic faculty and staff: check with your clinic manager before taking any clinical equipment off-site.
Inform UIS when relocating any desktop computer so we can update our records.
The process of connecting computers to one's home internet connection is Not Supported. This is solely the responsibility of the user.
UIS can provide only Partial Support for connecting to home peripheral devices, such as printers.
With regards to the COVID-19 work-from-home, for University owned equipment that malfunctions and may need servicing, it may be necessary to arrange for service-by-mail for a computer that is still under warranty. In cases where computers are not under warranty and malfunction, UIS will strive to mail a used (bumpdown) device.

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Article ID: 134229

Created

Thu 7/8/21 11:03 AM

Modified

Thu 4/18/24 4:57 PM

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