Personal Computing Support Policy

Franklin & Marshall has long provided a computational environment designed to encourage the integration of "computing across the curriculum." Our approach to computing is consistent with the mission of liberal education - technology in general is a tool that students employ as they learn. The College makes every effort to design and implement services (e.g., email, campus portal, course management system, file servers) that hold true to this statement.

For the 2008-09 academic year, Franklin & Marshall College once again recommends personal ownership of a Macintosh computer and usage of a standard suite of application software (Microsoft Office and Norton Anti-Virus) both of which are provided by the College. For Macintosh OS X and Windows (XP Professional and Vista) students will have access to our campus network in order to use the World Wide Web, Blackboard course management system, myDiplomat campus portal, email, network file servers, and the wireless network. The standard suite of software can be downloaded from a secure campus web site for both Macintosh and Windows platforms. Neither the Helpdesk nor the Computer Procurement and Repair Center are responsible for the functioning of non-college supported software.

Students may be required to use special purpose applications (e.g., Mathematica, SPSS, DataDesk, GIS) for academic assignments. The College provides public access computers in departmental labs and clusters for this purpose. Faculty members provide support for these curriculum-specific applications.

Students are expected to use the warranty support services of the manufacturer that produced their system. Information Technology Services manages a Help Desk that students may consult on a variety of technology-related subjects including network connectivity, virus protection, standard applications, and general troubleshooting. The College has an authorized procurement and repair facility on campus that provides warranty and other repair services for Apple computers. The process of repairing a malfunctioning computer may result in loss of data; students should regularly make backups, most computers have CD-ROM and DVD recorders that can be used for this purpose. Additionally, the College provides network file storage that can also be used for document backup. The College maintains a relationship with third party local vendors who are available, for a fee, to perform tasks beyond the mission of the Help Desk.

While Franklin & Marshall provides an integrated and supportive computing environment, it is the responsibility of students to: maintain their computer, install vendor supplied upgrades/patches to their operating system and applications, keep their virus protection definitions up-to-date, and backup critical data.

Faculty Committee on Academic Technology 
April 2008