Acceptable Technology Use Policy
Computing and data communications at Colorado State University are valuable and limited resources that serve a large number and variety of users. All users have the responsibility to make use of these resources in an efficient, ethical, and legal manner. For detailed information, download the college’s Acceptable Technology Use Policy.
Application Development Policy
Faculty and staff in the college that are in need of custom web or mobile applications have the option of contracting services from the college IT group on a cost recovery basis or seeking services from an external consultant. Typically, the most cost-effective option is working with us, though that may not always be the case. In instances where faculty or staff would like to seek assistance from an external consultant, college policy requires that the college IT group be consulted before releasing an RFP or signing an agreement. This is done to ensure that whatever is developed will be supportable into the future.
In addition, faculty or staff considering a potential web or mobile application are encouraged to contact us as early as possible in order to ensure that required timelines can be met.
AV Projects
All AV projects (including, but not limited to new installations, upgrades, configuration changes, and podium replacements) are to route through the college IT group to ensure all technology meets college and university standards and is supportable for its entire lifecycle. Each departmental financial officer is to work with college IT to initiate an AV request, and College IT will then coordinate the project with the appropriate university offices.
Backup Retention Policy
We perform frequent backups of all mission-critical servers. Due to cost, privacy, and security concerns, backup data cannot be stored indefinitely. Therefore, we keep backup copies of data stored on our servers for the following time periods:
- File servers (including data stored on M:, P:, S:, R:, and X: drives): Important note: data stored on your machine’s local hard drive or other removable media such as flash drives or external hard drives is not automatically backed up! This includes files saved to your desktop, downloads, and documents folders. Please save any important data on one of the various network drives.
- Short-term, hourly backups are retained for a limited period of time
- Full backups are scheduled to run once daily to a secondary site and retained for 30 days
- The secondary site backups are replicated to a tertiary site for disaster recovery purposes
- Database and web application servers (including data stored on w: drives):
- Full backups are scheduled to run once daily to a secondary site and retained for 30 days
- The secondary site backups are replicated to a tertiary site for disaster recovery purposes
All college data and servers are housed in physically secure locations.
Charges for Technology Acceptable and Preferred Purchase Guidelines
We provide a wide variety of technology services to our students, faculty, and staff. Specifically, our students are provided with access to a number of the college’s technology services, including, but not limited to, our six student computer labs, printing, unlimited personal file storage space on our central file system, access to our virtual desktop environment (Citrix (virtual desktop)), access to checkout laptops stored in our computer labs, and, by request, a personal website on our web servers.
Each college in the University assesses a technology fee (referred to as Charges for Technology at Colorado State University) to its students. As of July 2013, the College of Health and Human Sciences CFT fee is $71 per semester, which is used to fund these services.
The college relies on the University CFT Manual to make determinations about the appropriateness of CFT expenditures. The College of Health and Human Sciences Dean’s Leadership Council acts as the college CFT committee and therefore provides general oversight to the college IT group regarding CFT activities.
When making a determination about the appropriateness of a potential expense from the college CFT fund, the following considerations are made:
- Does the proposed expense fall under the “Allowable Uses of Funds” heading in the CSU CFT manual?
- Will the proposed equipment be accessible to a large number of our students most of the time?
- Does the proposed expense generally improve the academic experience for our students?
- Can the proposed expense be afforded given the current committed budget of the college CFT fund?
The college IT group is responsible for the day-to-day management of the college CFT fund as well as reporting data related to the college CFT budget back to the Dean’s Leadership Council at least twice per semester.
Computer Lab Use Policy
All users are expected to follow the CHHS Student Computer Lab Use Policy and to respect and adhere to lab operators enforcing these rules. Users that violate any of these rules may be subject to revoked access for 24/7 entry and denied login privileges to lab computers. In addition to the policy outlined here, CHHS computer labs adhere to all University policies.
E-commerce Policy
We support the development and maintenance of e-commerce applications for viable business entities in the college.
Business Requirements (Business and Financial Services requirements)
- Business Plan
- Financial Analysis
- 3-Year Projections
- Budget Forms Reviewed
- Submit Account Request via Kuali Financial System (if necessary)
- For more detailed information, download the Recharge/Self-Funded Account User’s Guide provided by Campus Services
Development Costs (College of Health and Human Sciences requirements)
- The one-time fee to develop the e-commerce application, set at the college IT group’s approved hourly rate multiplied by the amount of time required to develop the application
Information Security Policy
Colorado State University and the College of Health and Human Sciences collect information of a sensitive nature to facilitate and enable its business/academic functions. Unauthorized access to such information may have many severe negative consequences, including adversely affecting the reputation of the University and the college.
IT-Related Purchases
The college IT group manages the acquisition of all IT-related equipment (including, but not limited to, desktop computers, notebook computers, printers, tablet or slate computers, and removable storage devices). Each departmental financial officer should work with us when ordering new IT-related equipment to ensure the security and compatibility of the new equipment as well as the data it will house and/or access.
Any computer equipment that will ultimately reside within and/or is owned by Colorado State University is subject to a host of policies related to information technology and security, regardless of the funding source. These policies are meant to protect the integrity of the information CSU’s employees collect, manage, and access. As such, when individuals make purchases of this type of equipment without at least a consultation from the college IT group, they put themselves and their colleagues at risk for having information compromised. For more information, see the University Information Technology Security Policy.
Currently, in order to provide the best possible experience to all of our students, faculty, and staff, and to ensure the lowest possible total cost of ownership for the department/unit, the college, and the University, as well as to adhere to CSU’s purchasing agreements, we rely primarily on HP for the majority of our IT-related purchasing. As always, we will remain solution-oriented and will work with individuals when a specific business need is identified that requires technology outside of our current standard.
For AV-related purchases and projects, refer to AV Projects.
Replacement of Computer Equipment Guidelines
The college IT group coordinates the identification, evaluation, and replacement of computers and computer-related equipment for students, faculty, and staff. Working collaboratively with each of our eight academic units as well as the Dean’s Leadership Council, the college IT group identifies equipment that is no longer under manufacturer’s warranty and/or is no longer compatible with the current software requirements of the college.
The generally accepted lifespan of a computer, based upon industry standards and warranty limitations, is four years. Using this guideline, approximately one-quarter of our computers are identified as candidates for replacement each year. This is a guideline and is not always achievable due to limited resources of the academic units, the college, or the college Charges for Technology fee.
This approach to the replacement of computers and computer-related equipment seeks to reduce overall operating costs, improve stability and security, and provide access to the best possible information and instructional technology resources.
As of fall 2012, the college receives funding from the Office of the Provost to subsidize computer replacements for our regular, tenure-track faculty. The dean’s office matches this subsidy at least one to one, and the college IT group works with the college cabinet to expend these funds on computers for 25% of our tenure-track faculty each fall, resulting in each of these faculty members receiving a new computer for office (not research) use every four years.
Server Downtime Policy
Our servers require ongoing, routine maintenance to ensure secure, reliable performance. The college IT group will perform this maintenance between the hours of 11 p.m.-6 a.m. unless the update is considered critical. If you ever have difficulty accessing services, or have any questions, please contact the college Helpdesk at (970) 491-3458.
Student Laptop Checkout Policy
We invest a portion of our annual student technology fee budget to offer a laptop checkout program to students who are officially recognized as majors, secondary majors, or minors in the college. Eligible students providing a valid CSU student ID can check out laptops from select student computer labs.
Student Share (S: Drive) Policy
All students, faculty, and staff in the college are provided with access to a common shared file space known as the student share, or S: Drive. This drive is intended to be used for sharing files between students, faculty, and staff and is accessible from any college computer as well as remotely via Citrix (virtual desktop). Because this information is accessed by a large number of individuals, the structure and security of the data are carefully managed.
User Account Management Policy
As of spring 2012, the college no longer creates user accounts for students, faculty, and staff. Rather, the college relies on netIDs (user accounts managed by CSU’s central IT group) for authentication into our systems. Access to college systems is determined by CSU HR and/or Student Information System data.
Access to college resources will be granted within two business days of final HR approval or student enrollment within the college, and removal of said access will take place approximately 30 days after the termination of an employment assignment, or approximately six months after a student’s enrollment status changes (whether that means no longer taking a class in the college, changing major to a discipline outside of the college, or graduating). E-mail notifications will be sent to all students, faculty, and staff as their affiliation with the college changes. Please contact the college Helpdesk at (970) 491-3458 with any questions.
University IT Security Policy
The University, under the leadership of the Vice President for Information Technology, has worked collaboratively to develop a comprehensive IT Security policy. The policy was developed by the Information Technology Executive Committee Advisory Council. The policy seeks to improve the overall security of IT at CSU by promoting responsible security practices, reducing security risks, and establishing protocols to respond to security incidents.