What We Support

IT is staffed during normal business hours with a help desk for Chemistry.  IT staff will be only be available off-hours to provide "Urgent" services to the department during reasonable hours.  Services will be limited to support for problems falling into the categories as defined below.  We will strive to provide a response to any help-desk ticket with in one business day.   Response will be by email (web ticketing system) or unless otherwise requested. 

To request desktop support contact:

• email:  ticket@chem.psu.edu - This will generate a Help Desk ticket associated to your email address for response.
  
• Tel:  863-2123 only - This is the designated IT Help Desk line.  If we are on the phone or away from the phone, the Penn State Call Center will answer your call and generate a ticket.  Please be certain you provide your PSU access ID, preferred contact method and info and a brief description of your problem. 
  
• Web Ticket Request:  http://www.chem.psu.edu/it/request - If you cannot send email and the network is still functioning, you may create a ticket at: http://www.chem.psu.edu/it/request.  If email is working we prefer help requests are sent via email to: ticket@chem.psu.edu.
  

Directly contacting IT staff by methods other than the above provides no guarantee of response.

Unless otherwise requested, the IT Group will respond by email.

Desktop support service requests will be categorized as follows:

The IT Group will determine the priority of all inquiries, requests and problems.

Problems unrelated to University activities will not be supported.

Previous IT hardware standards focused on processor speed and dates of new model releases. This has become increasingly confusing for users to understand and navigate and difficult for IT to maintain. In its a place a more simple approach to hardware standards has been developed. As computers age, components begin to fail and it becomes increasingly difficult to find compatible parts for repairs or upgrades. Once they no longer have the ability to run currently supported software it becomes increasingly impractical to invest time and money into their maintenance. Also, the amount of time required to support older hardware is greatly increased, and our limited staff resources must be maximized. For these reasons, equipment beyond a certain age, as defined below, will not be supported by IT.

IT will support any computer - purchased from the recommended manufacturer of Dell, or Apple - for the duration of the warranty purchased with the computer.  We recommend 5 years with renewal option.

• It is recommended that all supported computers be covered by a manufacturer warranty for 5 years or until IT support is no longer desired. Typically, new computers come with a  1 or 3 year warranty, so the purchase of an extended 4th and 5th year is also highly recommended.
  
• If a computer is out of warranty, IT will provide limited support such that a best effort will be made to fix a problem, but significant staff resources will not be allocated.
• Only computers purchased by Penn State will be supported.
• All supported computers must have Penn State standard virus protection/security software (Identity Finder).

Hardware Standards

In order to maximize support efficiencies, only certain models of computers from supported manufacturers are supported. These supported models are built with the same parts for the entire life cycle of the model. Other models may be built with disk drives, video cards and other parts from different manufacturers at varying points in the model’s life cycle, making support more difficult. Also some other models are not designed for networked business needs and are more suitable for home or gaming. The following computer models are fully supported by IT.

• Dell desktops and laptops
• Apple desktops and laptops
  

Note: Any unsupported computer will be considered for support by IT if a business need requires its specific use. These exceptions, though infrequent, will be reviewed on a case by case basis.

Purchasing maintains websites in collaboration with Dell and Apple.

 http://computerstore.psu.edu or http://www.ebuy.psu.edu

Home Computer Support

IT provides no support of Penn State owned computers that are housed off-campus unless they are brought in to the campus IT work room.  The user is welcome to make an appointment to bring the computer into the IT Office for further service and pick up when complete. However, please note that home computing problems are oftentimes not able to be duplicated in a different environment, as internet service provider, modem problems, etc. cannot be duplicated. A reasonable effort will be made to solve problems on Penn State purchased, off-campus computers (that are brought on-site only).  Also, IT recommends that any Penn State purchased home computer be a laptop rather than a desktop in order to meet compliance.

IT will not, under any circumstances, go to any off campus or to a non-Penn State location to service Penn State owned computers/equipment.  Additionally, IT will not support any computer that is not owned by Penn State.  There are no exceptions.

Software Standards

The following software is supported by IT to include installation and the diagnosis/troubleshooting of any error message generated by the program. Only legal copies of software will be installed and supported.  Appropriate site licensing - is required. 

User Responsibility Policy

We will attempt to provide best effort service on unsupported operating systems and software.  IT staff are only proficient in the installation of the software above. 

We do not loan out our media. 

Please refer to the Microsoft Campus Agreement for additional details on Microsoft products used on University computers.

For any other software not on this list, IT will provide limited support such that a best effort will be made to install the software or fix a problem, but significant staff resources will not be allocated.

Document Actions

The following is a list of supported operating systems.  If your host is not on the list, please make arrangements with the IT Group to discuss alternative methods/arrangements in order to meet University Compliance.  Networked systems running an unsupported version of operating systems must be upgraded or removed from the wired network (backbone.) 

We will attempt to provide best effort service on unsupported operating systems.  IT staff are only required to be proficient in the above supported operating systems (not unsupported.)

Please refer to the Microsoft Campus Agreement for additional details on Microsoft products used on University computers.

For any other software not on this list, IT will provide limited support such that a best effort will be made to install the software or fix a problem, but significant staff resources will not be allocated.

Document Actions

Department of Chemistry Web Hosting

Eberly College of Science Strategic Plan 2008-2013, pg 24.

All departmental websites will be centrally migrated into the college or department's Plone Content Management Systems.  If you wish to hire a designer and host your own design, you can lease a Virtual Host at ITS:  see http://vmhost.psu.edu.  However, if you choose this option, University policy stipulates that you must designate a Penn State faculty or staff member as the systems administrator and cannot tie your site to the names science.psu.edu or chem.psu.edu.  The Chemistry IT group will not host, administer or design any sites that do not use the department's Plone Content Management System.

Design:

We do not engage in graphic design or alterations.  If you plan to host content on our departmental web servers you must use our content management system. 

Consultation required before hosting is provided:

You must consult the IT group first if you have plans to have Chemistry host any web pages.   The Department runs a Content Management System as to aid in University and ECOS policy compliance, as well as to make content management easier for staff and faculty.  We are required to follow University Policies and guidelines for all content.

Web Policies:

http://guru.psu.edu/policies/AD52.html

http://guru.psu.edu/policies/AD54.html

http://guru.psu.edu/policies/AD61.html

Hosting off-site:

http://guru.psu.edu/policies/AD07.html

Other:

http://guru.psu.edu/policies/AD03.html

Consulting with us first will save time and funding on having to correct common oversights in University required style management and design compliance. 

Personal Websites

All personal websites hosted on University resources including resources using the University's infrastructure must meet University Policies and guidelines.

Requests for support will be provided based on the chart.  Service of systems must meet the type requirements of one of the three management scopes :  Fully, Self, or Offline.

Fully Managed systems take priority over Self managed or Offline systems.

If you choose the Self manage option, you must have an assigned administrator from your group and it is that administrator and owners responsibility to comply with University, ECOS and departmental computer, security & networking policies, including re-mediation and in the event of a compromise and the University required steps in the event of Privacy Information exposure.

Self administered and managed systems must be kept current on all system patches, updates, and addressing all security incidents and Privacy Information remediation is a requirement of network and internet access.  

Support for service:  only requests for Penn State purchased equipment.  Personally purchased equipment including desktops, laptops and smart phones is not supported by policy.