Policies

Administrative Access Rights Policy

OTIS provides all clients with user-level account permissions on college-owned computer systems.

This reduces the risk of infection of college-owned computer systems by spyware, computer viruses, or other malware and increases the reliability and availability of the computers and software used by our faculty, staff, and students. OTIS staff conduct all computer administration tasks for our clients.

Administrative accounts are special accounts that exist for computer administration tasks such as installation, configuration, and maintenance. The ability to conduct computer administration activities is restricted because these activities can adversely affect the computer's performance, security, and usability. Performing day-to-day operations such as using software or creating files with user-level access is considered best practice. The majority of faculty and staff can conduct all their daily activities with user-level access. Only on very rare occasions is administrative level access needed by end-users, and those instances can be addressed by OTIS staff at their discretion.

Please remember that your computer is connected to the college and campus networks either through a wireless or wired network connection the majority of the time. Therefore, an infection on your system could propagate to other computers at the college and campus levels.

Dual OS Policy

FACS Office of Technology and Instructional Services will fully support a single, standard operating system on standard hardware. Clients who need software that uses a specific operating system should choose a primary computer that natively runs the required operating system.

Purchasing Computer Equipment Policy

The Office of Technology and Instructional Services (OTIS) will only support laptops and desktops purchased in consultation with OTIS. To purchase any computer equipment, you will need to request a quote or contact our office by submitting a ticket here. https://helpdesk.fcs.uga.edu

Computer OS Recommendation Policy

Windows 10 or higher is the standard operating system utilized at FACS. Since 75% of all computers run a Windows OS, learning Windows is an essential part of your skillset.

Mac OS X is supported at a lesser level and is recommended only for users prepared to deal with the added complications, cost, and time involved in using the Mac OS in our environment.

User Data Access Policy

FACS OTIS maintains strict permission and access controls for user and unit data stored on systems to preserve the privacy of this information. On occasion, it may be necessary for a second party to request access to an individual or unit's data stored on FACS OTIS systems. In these instances, it is necessary to obtain prior approval before granting access to or a copy of the requested data.

Approval by a superior is required to grant a second party access to an individual or unit's inaccessible data stored on FACS OTIS's systems unless the owner of the data provides direct permission for access:

For individuals, approval can be obtained from the Unit Head or Director

For Director or Head-level personnel, approval must come from the Dean or an Associate Dean

Higher levels of permission may be needed, depending on the content in question, and should be cleared through appropriate channels, including but not limited to UGA Legal Affairs, the UGA Police Department, and/or UGA Human Resources.

Access to the data will be provided through secure file transfer or on removable media (if capacities permit) to the requesting party. Due to security concerns, there is no direct access to personal shares or copying of data to a public or alternate private share. All access requests and processes will be fully documented through the FACS OTIS Helpdesk ticketing system.

Inventory Requirement Policy

FACS OTIS fully adheres to the USG State Requirements for Equipment Inventory Policy.

https://www.usg.edu/business_procedures_manual/section11/C1417

** We no longer ask that computer equipment falling below the amounts listed in the USG policy above be added to inventory or tagged by UGA property control.

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