Academic
Computing Services (ACS) provides support for the use of technology
by faculty, staff, students, and units in the College of Arts
and Humanities. Our purpose is to encourage and support the
use of technology for scholarship and pedagogy as well as maintain
an inventory of computer equipment in the College. Academic
Computing Services is comprised of staff who have two main focuses:
day-to-day technical support and support of faculty for scholarship
and pedagogy. ACS provides a wide range of services, including:
a help desk that supplements the consulting services offered
by Academic Information Technology; network services such as
file sharing, application, and print services; training for
faculty and staff; advise on hardware and software selection;
and the purchasing; delivery, configuration, and maintenance
of faculty and staff workstations. The ACS staff also maintains
open workstation labs and specialized computer labs (for example,
the Electronic Media Center and the AT&T Foreign Language Classroom).
As
a branch of the Dean's office, ACS is responsible for providing
advice to the Dean on technology-related issues, often in the
form of proposals to request the purchase of new equipment or
to create new facilities. These requests are developed by ACS
staff members working with input from appropriate committees
and individuals.
Academic
Computing Services serves as the College's primary connection
to the campus on issues related to information technology. ACS
staff members work closely with other campus groups -- including
Academic Data Systems, the Administrative Computing Center,
and Academic Information Technology Services (aITs) -- to provide
comprehensive support for the College. The dual reporting structure
of the Campus Computing Associate -- reporting both to aITs
and to the College -- enables ACS to represent the College's
interests on technology issues, as does the participation of
ACS staff members on various campus-level computing committees.
These contacts allow us to coordinate College planning with
Campus technology initiatives. In this role, ACS also works
to insure that College funds and staff efforts are not spent
on activities that are duplicated by other units on campus.
The
College's annual request to the campus for Workstation Deployment
Funds (distributed by aITs) is prepared by ACS staff members.
As part of the Workstation Deployment Process, ACS (with input
from the appropriate committees and individuals) makes recommendations
to the College for continued support of existing facilities
and for the support of new technology initiatives in teaching
and scholarship. ACS invites department chairs to submit requests
for faculty workstation funding, which it reviews and processes
in order to distribute faculty workstation funds appropriately.
As
the technology needs of faculty and staff evolve, ACS modifies
existing policies and drafts new ones (in consultation with
appropriate committees and individuals) for the Dean's approval.
ACS also holds responsibility for communicating policies for
the support and use of technology to the members of the College
community.
