Computer & Media Services has a budget for reimbursing faculty for computer purchases. At intervals of three years or less, faculty members can buy computers of their choice and get reimbursed for 90 percent of the purchase price or $1500 (whichever is less). That is, you will pay either 10 percent the cost of your computer, or the cost of the computer minus $1500. To reserve funds for computer hardware and/or software, address a memo to both the head of Computer & Media Services and the Dean of Academic Affairs. Decisions on allocations (when resources are scarce) are made in October and April. If you do not know what kind of computer to order, we can make recommendations.
Yes we can purchase it, unless it is prohibitively expensive, and even then we will probably do it. If you need software installed for a class, send email to action. Please let us know well in advance of when you will need the software installed, as we will not install it the same day that you make a request.
Yes. We can set a mailing list and/or a web discussion forum for your class. Send email to action. Class mailing lists will be removed at the end of each semester unless there is a request otherwise.
Certainly. There is currently no specific FileMaker documentation maintained by Computer & Media Services, but we offer some training sessions and are almost always available to answer questions. Email, call, or stop by our office.
You may choose to backup some of your files to floppy disks or to a co-worker's computer. If you are making changes to an important file, you might want to make another copy on your computer. All FileMaker Pro data is backed up.
All staff members are eligible to have an account on one of the College servers for backups of work-related materials only. We recommend that you use this server. To get an account, stop by Computer & Media Services. Once you have an account, we can set up a shortcut or alias on the desktop to your space on the backup server. Backups are done nightly to tape and are saved for at least two years.
To backup files to this account, just drag the files or folders you wish to backup to your backup icon. The files will soon disappear from the backup folder. Do not be alarmed by this; it means that they are being cataloged to be backed up. There is no reason to back up the same files again that day. This backup server is primarily intended for archival storage, but files can be retrieved in emergencies. To request a retrieval, stop by Computer & Media Services.
There are several ways that you can connect to the Internet while you are traveling. The College has several dial up accounts for such purposes. Printed documentation for configuring and using these accounts is available in the Office of Computer & Media Services.