Computer Service Agreement - Faculty/Staff

The Technology Support Center will provide service during regular William & Mary hours of operation: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. This agreement does not provide for troubleshooting services outside those hours.

Information Technology Staff

The Technology Support Center (TSC) has three groups of professional staff, they are:

Level 1 Technology Support Technicians
Level 2 Technology Support Engineers
Level 3 Systems Engineers

Beyond the TSC, Information Technology's professional staff includes:

Academic Technology Specialists & Engineers providing on-site support to faculty and departmental staff
Engineers, Programmers, Technicians, and Operators who support administrative applications
Lab/Classroom staff who maintain public access computer labs and technology enhanced classrooms
Network engineers who design, install and maintain our campus network
UNIX and Windows engineers who administer large systems such as email, calendar, and Blackboard.

Faculty & Staff Responsibilities

The following are the responsibilities of all members of the campus computing community:

maintain up-to-date virus protection
perform backups of critical data
maintain the security of logon passwords
avoid unsafe computing
use network drives for critical data

Workstation Support

The Technology Support Center provides onsite support for Macintosh and Windows computers and printers. This Service Level Agreement (SLA) is intended for W&M leased and owned computers, and specifies the scope and terms of services provided.

Scope of Service

The Technology Support Center will provide support for hardware, operating system, network, and selected applications on supported platforms. Specific services for computers included in this agreement are:

timely software installations for requested software (departments may be charged for some software and software upgrades)
problem resolution (operating system, supported software, and network functions)
liaison for hardware repairs.

The support program provides support for software upgrade and incident-based troubleshooting, but does not include day-to-day system administration. This means that users retain full control of and responsibility for administration of their systems, including data stored on their systems. Important data should be stored on network drives to prevent data loss.

Supported Platforms and Applications

The software platforms and applications used by W&M faculty and staff are varied and numerous. Whenever possible, we will assist faculty and staff in their use of technology, and the following list represents a partial list of the software for which we have some measure of expertise. We will attempt to offer external resources if we cannot fully troubleshoot a particular software problem.

Platforms

Macintosh
Windows

Operating Systems

Windows 10 Enterprise
Windows 11 Enterprise (Recommended OS)
Mac OS 3 Versions behind most current OS.

Configuration

The Equipment Service Program (offering a 3-year lease on Dell Notebooks and 4 year lease on Dell Desktops running Windows 10 Enterprise) has been very successful and is recommended for maintaining a current hardware and software configuration. Macintosh and other Windows systems will vary based on manufacturer.

Productivity Software

Microsoft Office 365 (recommended)

Mail Client

Outlook
OWA (Webmail for Exchange)

Web Browser

Edge
Chrome
Firefox
Safari

IP Clients

Macintosh: Fugu (SFTP client)
Windows: Secure FTP

Virus Protection

Microsoft Defender

Calendar

Exchange Calendar

Consultation

The Technology Support Center staff will be available for consultations with departments prior to their purchasing systems or software and to discuss support of systems or software purchased without consultation. Information Technology has established a computer system lease program (the ESP Program) and strongly recommends participation by all departments. In general, Information Technology staff will recommend business class, rather than consumer-class, machines from a particular vendor. This may result in prices that appear somewhat higher than those advertised to the general public due to the cost of higher quality parts and components. We believe that the typical use of a computer at William & Mary is much closer to the demanding use in business than to a home use machine.

Hardware Support

The Technology Support Center currently only provides hardware support for College owned computers. We are currently only authorized to service either Dell computers currently under manufacturer warranty. We are not currently authorized to service Apple computers.

Leased Computers

Computers leased through the ESP (Equipment Service Program)

The Technology Support Center will offer complete hardware support for W&M desktop systems leased through the ESP program. The one exception is laptop batteries which have a one year warranty, but our agreement will cover one battery replacement outside of the warranty. Problems caused by user abuse such as drinks spilled on the keyboard, dropped notebooks, or intentional damage will not be covered and the department will be responsible for the cost of repairs.

Other Windows Machines

Hardware support will be offered for W&M purchased systems until the manufacturer's warranty expires. Currently the Technology Support Center is certified to provide warranty repair on Dell computers covered by the manufacturers warranty. For non Dell or Apple computers, the Technology Support Center will provide support and assistance where possible. Information Technology strongly recommends the purchase of at least three-year warranties with all purchased systems. Problems caused by user abuse such as drinks spilled on the keyboard, dropped notebooks, or intentional damage may not be covered and the department will be responsible for the cost of repairs.

Personally Owned Machines

The Technology Support Center will not provide any hardware support for personally owned computers. We will provide walk-in support for connecting to the W&M network.

Printers

Information Technology currently recommends participating in the Print Management program.

Support for Access to Services from Off-Site

The Technology Support Center will provide assistance by telephone to William & Mary faculty, staff and students who are having difficulty accessing selected services (e-mail, Blackboard, Calendar and proxy to access Swem Library services) from off campus.

Terms of Service

Support Procedures

Users should contact the Technology Support Center at 221-HELP or email [[support]] for assistance. When a user calls the TSC for assistance, they should:

provide their name, W&M Username, department name, and location, and
provide a clear description of the problem.

It is our goal to answer all calls live. (If a message is left, the call will be returned ASAP.) Email will be processed throughout the work day. When possible, problems will be addressed via the telephone by Technology Support Center technicians. If necessary, problems will be escalated to the Technology Support Center engineers assigned to that area.

We will always attempt to answer specific questions regarding use of software, but we do not have the staff resources to provide one-on-one training for individuals. Software packages typically have comprehensive, built-in help, and we encourage everyone using a computer on campus to become familiar with these tools, as they can save a great deal of time in getting quick answers to commonly asked questions.

Service Goals

Our goal is to solve problems ASAP (on the same day reported if possible). Times may vary based on user, technician availability and parts availability.