Computer Replacement Funding Program

The Weinberg Dean’s Office Computer Replacement Funding Program assists in the periodic replacement of computers in the departments and programs of the College.  This program is designed to supplement funds that may be available for computer purchases from department budgets, faculty discretionary accounts, research grants, and other sources.  It was initiated in January 2009.
 
Funding is provided by the Dean’s Office according to the policies and procedures described below.  The program has been funded for FY09 and FY10.  Subsequently, the program will be assessed each January for possible replacement and adjustment in the next fiscal year (e.g. review in January 2010 for FY11 funding).
 
Under this program, computer replacement funding is provided to each department as follows:  

Replacement cycle: 

The program provides for replacement of one-fourth of eligible computers on an annual basis.  Departments may utilize a trickle-down approach to moving computers between faculty and staff with differing computing needs over the four-year life of a computer.
 
Faculty and staff eligibility:

• Continuing tenure-line faculty and continuing lecturers whose salaries are funded by the Dean’s Office are eligible. 
• Non-exempt staff and exempt staff whose salaries are funded by the Dean’s Office are eligible. 
• Faculty, research associates, post-docs, research staff, and administrative staff whose salaries are not funded by the Dean’s Office are not eligible.
• If a faculty or staff appointment is shared with a Northwestern department outside of Weinberg, the Dean’s Office will provide pro-rated funding, anticipating the other portion of funding to come from the other Northwestern department(s).  If an individual is 50% or more part-time at Northwestern, but paid entirely from within Weinberg, he/she is eligible for full funding.  If an appointment is shared between two or more departments within Weinberg, a primary department is designated for computer funding. 
• Funding is not provided for unfilled faculty positions, as new faculty are usually provided with start-up funding to purchase a computer.  New tenure-line faculty are eligible for program funding beginning in their first year on the faculty, so they may be included in the department’s four-year replacement plan.
• Funding is not provided for unfilled staff positions, unless specifically approved by the Dean.

Budget: 

The budgeted cost per computer is calculated to enable purchase of a computer and software operating system.  The annual amount is set in January of each year, after assessing the current Weinberg/University prices for a variety of appropriate business-class computers -- laptops and desktops from Dell, Lenovo, and Apple.    

The cost of software licenses on Weinberg’s standard software image is separately funded by the Dean’s Office.  For details, see Purchasing/Updating Software.

The budgeted cost per computer is not calculated to include the cost of printing or specialized software.  These items may be funded from department accounts (for shared use), faculty discretionary accounts (for individual use), or from the budgeted cost itself if a less expensive computer is selected. 

Department chairs should consider the varying computing needs of eligible faculty and staff in allocating funds.  It may be appropriate to spend more than the individual allocation for the computers of a few high-end users, to spend significantly less than this for the computers of other users, and to allocate remaining funds for printers.  Technical support representatives from WeinbergIT will be happy to help make recommendations on computer purchases for the department.

Purchasing policies: 

Weinberg maintains hardware and software purchasing policies and technical support policies.  They are designed to provide faculty and staff with a range of choices and to enable technical staff to provide high-quality computer support at reasonable cost. 

The policies are detailed at the following sites and apply to all Weinberg/University computers, regardless of funding source.

Purchasing Hardware

Purchasing/Updating Software

Computer Support Policies

Program procedures:

The Dean’s Office calculates the funding for each department, equal to the (# of eligible individuals) x (FY09 budgeted cost per computer) x (1/4). The department funds are transferred to department operating accounts in January of each year and are accompanied by a detailed list of eligible individuals in the department.  The Department Chairs may initiate desired computer purchases from their operating account at any point during the remainder of the fiscal year, following standard computer purchasing policies.  We encourage departments to make replacement purchases in the winter, spring, and early summer of each year, and to avoid making replacement purchases during late summer and early fall when the support focus is on new faculty.    

The intent of the program is to ensure that one-fourth of eligible computers are replaced each year (e.g. not to save funds for less frequent purchases or to redeploy funds for other departmental uses).  Department chairs may be asked to report annually in August on the number of computers purchased with program funds. 

Questions: 

Please contact your department’s technical support representative, or Ruth Reingold, Assistant Dean for Computing Technology (reingold@northwestern.edu, 1-2746), with any questions about planning for computer purchases.  If you have questions about the funding program or your department’s budget, please contact Gretchen Talbot, Director of Financial Operations (g-talbot@northwestern.edu, 1-2227).