Policies

We know this is a trying time and we appreciate all you do to help students learn while keeping your research program moving forward. We would like to help facilitate this and provide the following information so that we can help you with computing resources while maintaining our responsibility to be stewards of those sacred resources.

With Covid-19, many users have taken equipment home: Laptops, desktops, monitors, printers, etc. We appreciate your willingness to work from home to keep our campus community safe and healthy. As a support team we are also working from home. (unless there is a need to be in a building for computer repairs.) We are providing the following guidelines to help you and your department understand how BYU computers, including those that are taken home, will be supported.

Guideline #1:

4-year Access laptops can be taken home as often as needed. 4-year Desktop computers or other computer equipment can be taken home with the approval of the Department Chair and the Computing Support department. An “Off Campus Equipment” form MUST be filled out. If you have taken equipment home, please fill out this form, which can be found at: https://fhss.byu.edu/equipment-off-campus-form. (Thank you to those that have already filled out the form!) If no form is filled out and equipment is taken home, the equipment may not be supported by the Computing Services department. If possible, we encourage you not to take desktop equipment home. (Unlike laptops, desktop equipment is not built to be transported.) As an alternative to taking desktop computers home, there are other options: 1) see if Computing Services may have a loaner you can check out. (faculty only) 2) see if the department would be willing to purchase a loaner laptop for you and 3) A user can remote into their office computer (if left on). Computing services has a short guide on this: https://fhsscomputing.byu.edu/work-remotely.

Guideline #2:

No personal computers (i.e., equipment not owned by BYU) will be supported or worked on by Computing Services! Students technicians may not come to private residencies to provide support. No BYU Licensed software will be placed on any personal computer, unless stated in the license that it can be used for personal use (e.g. Adobe Creative Cloud, temporary Stata licenses, etc.) Users can access web-based BYU software by going to cloudapps.byu.edu and logging in with their BYU ID and Password.

Guideline #3:

Any “under Warranty” computer equipment that is taken home and becomes broken can be fixed, though this process requires contacting the manufacturer, which may delay the repair. Any equipment that the technicians are not able to fix over the phone/remotely or that is physically broken while at a residence MUST be brought into the Computing Services center (382 KMBL) to receive service. It is the responsibility of the faculty member to bring the equipment in to be looked at. (Covid-19 Safety policies will always be followed during drop-off and retrieval.) Computers on campus that are broken will be picked up by a student technician for repairs.

Guideline #4:

For any computer equipment out of warranty that needs repair, while at a personal residence, it will be the responsibility of the department to get it fixed or replaced. (If trickledown computer equipment is available, Computing Services MIGHT be able to assist in the replacement).

Guideline #5:

Computers that are taken home should be used for BYU faculty research, data collection, and course preparation. These computers should not be used by family members or others for personal use. The more users who use the computer, the greater the risk of viruses, malware and hardware problems. If a BYU computer comes in from home for repairs and personal accounts for users who are not BYU personnel are on the computer, they may be wiped off from the computer if the equipment needs to be wiped clean and re-setup to fix a problem. No personal data will be backed up on these computers.