Software

OTS PC Lab Software Management Practices

In order to best serve the Illinois Institute of Technology faculty and student community, OTS is proposing the following policies and procedures for managing the installed software applications in all OTS Student PC Labs.

• Accurate and up to date lists of all installed software for all OTS Student PC Labs can be found on the web at: http://ots.iit.edu/computer_classrooms
• Policies and procedures for the addition or removal of PC lab software will be defined on this web page. Procedures include regularly scheduled communications to faculty members at preset times prior to the start of each semester.
• PC lab software requirements will be defined on this web page.
• Policies and procedures for the funding of PC lab software licensing will be defined on this web page.
• Any member of the IIT community is always encouraged to submit any questions they have regarding OTS PC Lab policies and procedures by calling the OTS Support Desk at X-7DESK (-73375) or login to http://support.iit.edu.

Policies and procedures for the addition or removal of PC Lab software

OTS encourages faculty members to request any changes to the existing PC Lab software images as soon as possible. Any faculty member needing changes or wishing to request new software should contact the OTS Support Desk in writing, by e-mail at supportdesk@iit.edu. Information on software requirements and funding of lab software can be found in following sections of this document.
It is our goal to have all labs completely operational on the first day of classes each semester. In order to complete this goal OTS staff must have:

• 8-weeks before the start of each semester - Create a test image including all proposed software packages to be tested for a period of 3-weeks. Individuals requesting the addition of a software package will be notified of the software’s success or failure during this period.
• 4-weeks before the start of the semester - Begin the installation of final tested hard-drive images onto individual Lab PCs

Based on this schedule, OTS will send out four separate e-mail notifications to all academic department coordinators. The first two notifications will be coordinated with the registrar and be submitted 10 to 12 weeks before the start of the new semester. These notifications will include a list of existing labs software image and the Procedure to request the addition/removal of a software package

The third notification will be communicated 8 weeks before the start of the semester and contain a list of proposed software packages to be included on the Lab PCs. The final notification will be communicated 4 weeks before the start of the semester. It will contain a final list of software packages to be installed on the Lab PCs.

The removal of a software application from Lab PCs can be initiated by OTS or an academic department that is currently paying the software license fees. If OTS initiates the removal of software, OTS will notify all faculty members and academic department contacts at least 12 weeks prior to the start of the next semester. Academic departments can request software applications be removed at any time by sending their request in an e-mail to supportdesk@iit.edu. Please request software removal at least 8 weeks prior to the start of the next semester, so OTS can notify all faculty members of the change. No software will be removed from a lab once the final image is defined.

PC Lab Software requirements:

Software must be written for, or compatible with the Windows 2000/XP operating system. All software applications must pass testing for compatibility with existing lab hardware/software.

Policies for the funding of PC Laboratory Software:

At the present time there is no policy defining who will be responsible for funding the software applications installed in the Student PC labs. In order to consistently provide students and faculty with quality PC Labs, OTS proposes the following criteria to determine funding responsibilities for software license fees. This policy will affect only new software requests. OTS will continue to provide funding for the titles, which it currently funds.

OTS will be responsible for license fees of software:

• Relating to the PC operating system and office suite applications
• Providing administrative functionality i.e. anti-virus software
• Used by students from multiple colleges/institutes

Individual colleges will be responsible for license fees of software:

• Used for research purposes
• Used by students from a single college/institute
• For which there is an existing installed software application, which provides similar functionality

This policy requires the formation of a committee, made up of representatives from each academic college, which will be responsible for: 1) the final adoption of this proposal, 2) for resolving incidents relating to future software changes 3) funding new software titles, 4) and categorizing software titles for the purposes of version releases. .

Procedure to request any information regarding hardware or software in the OTS PC Labs

All information contained in this document, as well as OTS PC lab:

• Locations
• Hours
• Installed Software
• Hardware and Peripherals

Can be found at http://ots.iit.edu/computer_classrooms. Any questions or comments should be directed to the OTS support desk by phone at 7-3375, by e-mail at supportdesk@iit.edu, or enter an incident at http://support.iit.edu