Franklin & Marshall College

The College provides a computer system to all full-time members of the College faculty as well as staff members who make ongoing contributions to departmental teaching as determined by the Provost's Office. A faculty computer is defined as a computer system that is minimally configured for the general activities associated with being a faculty member excluding specialized research or other distinctive uses. While this line is increasing blurred, the following guidelines have been established for managing this process.

Minimum Standard Guidelines for College-owned Faculty Computers

A constantly evolving "minimum standard" established and annually reviewed by the Committee on Academic Technology is used as the basis for funding faculty upgrades to the desktop system. Due to the evolutionary nature of computer technology and the changing minimum standard system, all full-time College faculty will never meet the minimum standard simultaneously. However, the Committee attempts to maintain a 3-5 year upgrade cycle. Computer systems purchased as part of the Faculty Computer pool remain in the faculty pool for reallocation until such time as the systems are "retired" from use within the Faculty Computer pool.

The Committee on Academic Technology is charged with managing this process and reviewing and updating related policies and procedures. The Committee solicits and reviews requests for faculty computer upgrades during the Fall semester.

2011-12 Application Deadline: September 23, 2011
The CAT will solicit requests for upgrades from College faculty
two weeks prior to the next application deadline.

Current Minimum Faculty Computer Standard

The current minimum standard faculty computer system includes a Macintosh G4 computer, 1 Gigabyte RAM, color monitor, and includes high volume data storage options (hard drive, CD, CD-RW).

"Retired" Faculty Desktop Computer Systems

At some point in the life cycle of a Faculty Computer system, the computer and associated peripherals will be "retired" from the faculty upgrade cycle. This occurs when a system falls too far below the minimum standard as determined by the Committee on Academic Technology. While these College-owned systems are "retired" or removed from the faculty upgrade cycle, they retain some value to the College. Most of these systems become part of a computer pool managed by Computing Services and used for emergency replacement and spare parts; e.g., keyboards, mice, monitors, hard drives, CD-ROM drives, etc.

In the case of a surplus of "retired" systems, faculty department chairs may make requests to the Committee on Academic Technology for special uses for surplus "retired" systems. Special uses must be for legitimate departmental purposes including, but not limited to, faculty conference use (portables), Hackman student use (temporary assignment), department conference room use, etc. Upon receipt of a "retired" system, the faculty department understands that these "retired" systems are no longer supported by the College, and the department will neither expect nor request support beyond the extended life of the "retired" system, whatever that might be. "Retired" computer systems are not provided for personal use until such time as they no longer retain value to the College as determined by the Committee on Academic Technology.

NOTE: The Committee on Academic Technology (CAT) will solicit Requests for Proposals from full-time College faculty via e-mail 2 weeks prior to the program deadline.

Please contact with any questions regarding this program.