ELIGIBILITY AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR FORESTRY COMPUTING SERVICES

I. Purpose and Scope

The College of Forestry offers a suite of computing-related services through the Forestry Computing Resources Group (FCR) that support the research, teaching, outreach and service missions of the College, its constituent units and partner state and federal agencies. This Administrative Memorandum describes the general categories of services that are available, who is eligible to receive those services, how those services are financially supported and the procedures used to obtain services.

II. Forestry Computing Resources

The Forestry Computing Resources group (FCR) is a service unit of the College of Forestry charged with providing high quality computing support. FCR operates as a partnership between the College, several governmental agencies and other research organizations that provide mutually supportive services. Strategy, vision and planning for the FCR is provided by the Forestry Computing Committee (FCC), a broad-based group representative of service providers and users. FCR is funded by a direct allocation from the College for instructional computing support and through fees received through a Quantitative Sciences Group (QSG) service center. FCR provides support only for members of the College of Forestry and authorized partners.

The specific fees associated with providing computing-related services are established each year and are published in the OSU Fee Book (http://osufees.bus.oregonstate.edu/Public/BrowseInternal.aspx -- Unit: College of Forestry, Department: Computing Services) and on the College of Forestry Web Site (http://wwwdata.forestry.oregonstate.edu/helpdesk/policies/service/fee_book.html).

III. Eligibility for Computing Support through FCR

College computing support services are available only to members of the College of Forestry and to students and collaborators approved by the FCC. For the purposes of this memorandum, a member of the College includes faculty, graduate students, support staff and others as described below:

1. Faculty includes Professorial faculty, non-professorial faculty (instructors, professional faculty, research associates and faculty research assistants), Emeriti and Visiting Scholars who are approved by their Department Head, their College of Forestry unit leader, or the Dean. Forestry faculty and staff not housed on-campus are generally not eligible for membership.

2. Graduate Students who are enrolled in a College of Forestry degree program or who are enrolled in a formal interdisciplinary graduate program with a CoF-salaried professor as major advisor are eligible. Graduate students who are not currently enrolled, but who are pursuing a CoF degree, may be eligible for membership on approval of their Department Head.

3. Undergraduate students who are majors in one of the degree programs offered by the College (and whose primary college is Forestry in the case of Natural Resources majors) and those enrolled in Forestry classes may be eligible for membership with the support of a faculty sponsor and approval of the FCC.

4. Support Staff include those classified staff that are on a College payroll and are approved by their Department Head, Unit Leader or Dean.

5. Other personnel approved by the FCC may be designated as members for the purposes of computer support. These may include, but are not limited to, research collaborators, key student leaders and temporary student laborers.

6. Students who are taking coursework in the College of Forestry, are in residence on a temporary training or exchange assignment, or are enrolled in a College outreach event, may be given temporary access to computer support for instructional purposes with the FCC’s approval.

7. ONID users who have paid the University Technology Resource Fee are eligible for Instructional Support Services only, see section IV.C.

IV. Available Support Services

Computing support services provided by FCR to eligible members fall into three general categories: basic, extended and instructional support services. These are described below:

A. Basic Support Services are purchased through the QSG Service Center and include:

1. Network account (local and Internet connectivity)
2. Access to and technical support for a common pool of software and hardware (e.g. printers, scanners, etc.)
3. Access to basic allocation of shared data-storage space
4. Credit for basic allotment of color print services
5. Access to electronic mail
6. Technical user support and training
7. Electronic security
8. Web page hosting (for work-related sites that do not require database support)
9. Support and maintenance for a user’s primary non-Unix machine on the network.

B. Extended Support Services are optional services that augment basic services and may be purchased through the QSG Service Center. The services offered may vary from year to year and will be fully described in the OSU Fee Book (http://osufees.bus.oregonstate.edu/Public/BrowseInternal.aspx -- Unit: College of Forestry, Department: Computing Services) and on the College of Forestry Web Site (http://wwwdata.forestry.oregonstate.edu/helpdesk/policies/service/fee_book.html). Example services include:

1. Unix connectivity and support
2. Statistical support
3. Network data storage volume beyond basic allocation
4. Color printing beyond basic allocation
5. Hourly consulting beyond that provided with Basic Support Service
6. Laptops
7. Special backup and recovery services beyond those provided with Basic Service
8. Wireless network access for supported devices
9. Support for handheld devices
10. Database hosting and database-enabled web hosting
11. Access to specialized hardware (e.g. plotters)
12. Access to specialized software (e.g., ArcIMS)
13. Network access for devices other than workstations

C. Instructional Support Services includes all necessary support for the public use computer labs in Peavy 240, Peavy 236, Peavy 215, Peavy 252 (SLC) and Richardson 203, including equipment replacement, software and printing support, and walkup Helpdesk support. Instructional support services are funded directly by the College with support from University Technology Resource Fee funding.

Support for networked machines is limited to those owned by OSU and approved non-OSU/Partner-owned machines authorized to connect to the network in Peavy and Richardson Halls, at the College Forests, in the USDA Forestry Sciences Laboratory in Corvallis, and at the ODFW Corvallis Research Lab. Non-OSU/Partner-owned workstations meeting the conditions outlined at http://wwwdata.forestry.oregonstate.edu/helpdesk/policies/standards/partner.html
are eligible for full support on the Forestry computing network. Fully supported non-OSU/Partner-owned workstations receive normal network access, assistance from Helpdesk in resolving computer problems, and access to all software that is not license-restricted to "university owned" computers.

V. Financial Support

The costs of providing basic and extended computer support services are recovered through fees charged through the QSG Service Center. All fees are established based on actual or anticipated expenses and are charged equitably to all eligible members Each Department Head, support unit leader, or partner member will identify or affirm their authorized users of support services on a quarterly basis as bills are received. Each unit will review the quarterly QSG bill and submit changes in writing to QSG. Changes are effective after they are received by QSG. See section VI.B. for details.

FCR will maintain a database of user accounts and computers. This database is used to bill a Responsible Party for authorized and requested services on a quarterly basis. A Responsible Party may be a Department Head, support unit leader, major professor, partner agency or an authorized individual. See the procedures identified in Section VI. The Responsible Party will ensure that basic support fees are paid for the services they request.

A. Basic Support Service Fees

The cost of basic computing support services is recovered by charging three separate fees to ensure fairness:

1. Machine Fee: Recovers the cost of supporting and maintaining a non-Unix machine on the network.
Services include: network wiring infrastructure - Internet access and wireless access - 100BASE-TX service to virtually everyone and gigabit Ethernet for most interconnections, servers, and many desktops; and full coverage access to the campus public wireless network; management of operating system patches and software patches and general network security; software licenses (Symantec Anti-Virus, …); assistance with hardware problems; assistance with new machine and software purchases; assistance with software installation and machine/software configuration; machine/hardware and system software setup - troubleshooting
2. Helpdesk Fee: Recovers the cost of helpdesk services, (including software installation, configuration, troubleshooting and answering user questions) that are provided to members of the College of Forestry and the collaborating agencies. Users paying the helpdesk fee will also pay the account fee.
Services include: rapid assistance with problems related to hardware, software and network; queued assistance and follow-up with larger hardware, software and network problems; checkout equipment; support for classroom equipment; support for workshops; shared network printing maintenance and support
3. Account Fee: Recovers the cost of computer account administration, maintenance, user disk space, email and shared software. In special circumstances restricted access accounts are available that only pay the account fee¹.

Services include: e-mail; software licenses (MS Office, …); 45 network servers (including Web and database servers); network disk space; network backup and recovery; a secure and reliable network

B. Extended Support Service Fees

These fees are charged directly to an approved Responsible Party who requests special service(s) on behalf of a user. The fees for offered services are set and published annually. Responsible Parties are billed by FCR at the end of each quarter for services rendered during the quarter. Payment is due upon receipt of bill.

C. Eligibility for financial support

“Full Dean Support” is defined as the Dean/College paying one machine fee, one Helpdesk fee, and one account fee associated with a particular user.

Positions designated for Full Dean Support are as follows.

All professorial faculty with an appointment level of 0.5 FTE or greater, and who are paid by an index with a College of Forestry organizational code, and are housed in CoF facilities.
Instructors, non-research professional faculty, non-research classified staff, and other personnel (as stipulated in the College Annual Essential Expenses Budget) with an appointment level of 0.5 FTE or greater, who are paid by an index with College of Forestry organizational code, and who are housed in CoF facilities.
Extension faculty who are housed on-campus and with tenure home and principal assignment in the College of Forestry receive Full Dean Support. Off-campus Extension faculty normally have their computer support provided by OSU-ES.
Emeritus professorial faculty receive Full Dean Support upon annual verification of need and activity status by department head.
Graduate students who meet the University’s continuous enrollment requirement or who are within two months after defending their thesis/dissertation.

Positions designated for Partial Dean Support include:

Research associates, senior faculty research assistants, faculty research assistants, and research professional faculty receive Full Dean Support for Fiscal Year 2007 (July 1, 2006 – June 30, 2007).
Partial Dean Support in Fiscal Year 2008 (July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2008) will cover one user Helpdesk fee, and one user Account fee.
Partial Dean Support in Fiscal Year 2009 (July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2009) will cover one user Helpdesk fee.
Partial Dean Support for Fiscal Year 2010 (July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010) and beyond is yet to be determined but for planning purposes consider that Partial Dean Support will not be available.

Positions not covered by Dean Support in FY2007 and beyond include:

Undergraduates
Enrolled in OSU classes
In residence in the College of Forestry for temporary exchange or training assignments, and not enrolled for OSU classes
Students (and instructors) may be given temporary CoF network accounts when necessary or desirable for instructional purposes. Normally, this access will be requested by instructor from the Director of Forestry Computing Resources and will be active for a specific term.

Graduate Students
Who are still actively working on a degree in the COF, but are not registered.
In residence in the College of Forestry for temporary exchange or training assignments, and not enrolled for OSU classes.

Others
Off-campus Extension faculty
(Their computer support is normally provided by OSU-ES.)
Non-professorial faculty who do not meet the conditions for eligibility
Courtesy, adjunct and retired affiliated faculty
Visiting scholars
Research classified staff
Student and other temporary workers on a CoF payroll who are employed to work on College of Forestry projects. Normally, fees for these types of accounts will be paid by sponsoring project or department, and apply only for the term of employment.
Continuing education students such as conference attendees, may be given basic computer support as needed. This support is normally supported by an event fee and is negotiated by the event leader and the FCR Director prior to the time of need.

The number of Dean-supported users and personnel categories will be periodically monitored and reviewed by FCC with FEC approval of any changes in eligibility categories.

D. Special Situations

There may be times when eligibility guidelines need to be modified. Proposals for modification should be submitted to FCC for discussion and potential recommendations to FEC.

Responsible parties are free to negotiate the payment of their bills from sources other than their own funds.

VI. Procedures

A. Application for Basic and Extended Service

To open and close computer accounts, change billing information, add or remove machines from the network or to request other services, users must go to the Helpdesk, fill out the appropriate form, and then obtain the required signatures, including that of the Responsible Party (RP).

The RP is responsible for ensuring that bills for computing services are paid in a timely manner. A Responsible Party may be a Department Head, support unit leader, major professor, partner agency or an authorized individual. Billing for the account or service will begin the day the account is opened or the service is begun. Users are required to fill out a ‘Close Account’ form when they want their account closed or service terminated. The billing for accounts will end as of the date of the signature of the RP.

B. Payment of Fees

FCR maintains a database of real-time user account activity and networked computers based on forms submitted by users. FCR uses the database to bill Responsible Parties and partner groups for user accounts, helpdesk support, networked computer support and extended services on a quarterly basis. Fees are prorated on a daily basis. Bills are sent to Responsible Parties and payment is due when the invoice is received. Failure to pay the fees in a reasonable amount of time (usually within the quarter in which it is received) can result in the loss of a network account or service. Generally fees can be paid with personal funds, by appropriate grants, by the sponsoring department, or from other sources as determined by the unit leader.