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Department of Psychological Sciences — Hardware and Software Support Policy

Updated March 28, 2022

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Introduction

The Department of Psychological Sciences Computer Committee decided on the following policy regarding Departmental hardware and software support. The policy was presented to, and approved by the Department Head and Division Heads on Feb. 7th, 2000.

The list of support is updated by the Computer Committee each semester. The following list of support was approved March 23, 2020.

If you would like to comment on this policy or make suggestions please contact the head of the committee, Etan Markus, or one of the members: Janet Barnes-Farrell, Nairan Ramirez-Esparza, Matthew Butwill, Eddie Rivera, Brandon Velasco, James Magnuson, Ethan Gossett (student representative).

The Department of Psychological Sciences currently has three computer support staff (Psych. Staff). It should be noted that service priority is given to computer problems that affect large numbers of users (e.g., servers, teaching, network printers, shared machines), thus the actual time interval until support is given may vary with the nature of the problem.

New Purchases

1. Please check with PsychIT BEFORE purchasing any software or hardware not listed in this policy. Do not set up a new server without first consulting PsychIT.

2a. New Computers: Windows – In general, these will be current Dell business-class computers purchased through the university and state contract . Our current recommendations:

Desktop: Dell OptiPlex 7090 MT (i7, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB – 1 TB solid state primary drive, 2 TB secondary drive for backups, and 5 year warranty).

Laptop: Dell Latitude 7420 (i7, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB solid state drive, and 5 year warranty).

These PC’s will meet the security standards set by the University and function well for standard business tasks for at least the 5-year warranty period. When a non-standard computer is required for research purposes, we can assist in identifying various options and in preparation of the required exemption request form.

Purchasing laptops with non-removable drives (e.g., Microsoft Surface, etc.) present serious data loss potential because drives cannot be removed for external data recovery. They are also not upgradeable, so important to be honest about how much space is required for the life of the laptop. Do consider how your important data will be backed up (local hard drive and/or cloud… Dropbox, etc.)

2b. New Computers: Mac – In general, these will be current Apple business-class computers purchased through the university and state contract. Our current recommendations:

Desktop: iMac 24″ (M1, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB – 1 TB solid state drive, and 4 year warranty).

Laptop: MacBook Pro 13″ (M1, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB solid state drive, and 4 year warranty).

Laptops with non-removeable drives (e.g., late 2016 Apple MacBook Pro with touch bar, etc.) present serious data loss potential because drives cannot be removed for external data recovery. They are also not upgradeable, so important to be honest about how much space is required for the life of the laptop.

Do consider how your important data will be backed up (local hard drive and/or cloud… OneDrive, etc.)

3. All office computers for Department faculty and staff will be encrypted and configured with the same software in current use for university contract PC/MAC. Unless there is a valid exception, PCs and Macs will be added to the University Active Directory. Authentication in this case will be with NETID and password.

Current Computers

4. Current computers: Any current computer must be at least compatible with Microsoft Windows 10 Version 21H1 or Windows 11 (PCs) or Apple macOS 11.6.4 or better (1b).  The department will try to assist the migration to compliant machines as support for older machines is phased out.

5. Web sites used to collect information from individuals fall under the auspices of the Human Subjects guidelines (see IRB https://ovpr.uconn.edu/services/rics/irb-2/) and their use with the participant pool requires review by the Department of Psychology’s Ethics Committee (Steven Mellor). Additional information is available on the Participant Pool website

6. It is the responsibility of the user to post only legal material on the web (e.g., copyright laws, libel, etc.) and all websites must comply with current minimum standards for University websites.

7.   Servers (Microsoft, Mac, and any Linux/Unix computer) must be updated with the latest patches on at least a monthly schedule. This is a University requirement and critical for the security of department and university networks. Faculty who install and/or maintain Microsoft servers need to comply with many policies, not the least of which can be found at the following URL: Server Hardening Standards.

8. Only University computers and departmental printers are covered by the department. Supplies and parts for research computers and non-departmental printers are the responsibility of the faculty.

9. For color printing, please send the file to the Psychology General mailbox (psychology@uconn.edu) with the subject line “color print job”. It will be printed and placed in your mailbox.

In general if you have a computer problem…

1. For issues with email or networking or storage (P, Q, R drives) submit a work ticket by visiting the UConn Jira Ticketing System

Or Call the Computer Center Help Desk at 6-HELP (6-4357). They provide excellent support for e-mail, networking, graphics, and many software applications.

If they cannot assist you …

2. Email psychithelp@uconn.edu to submit a work ticket or submit a JIRA Ticket for computer HELP (JIRA link): http://s.uconn/psychit

Then login with NetID. At the JIRA landing page, click Psychological Sciences link at bottom of list…

Fill out a web-based Work Order Request at Psych WO This work order form is only to be used to request help with IT associated problems within the Department of Psychological Sciences. It is currently limited such that any requests must originate from within the university or Virtual Private Network (VPN) using Cisco AnyConnect VPN .

A work-order number will be given on completing the form that should be used in any correspondence concerning the request. You will get an acknowledgment via comments entered on the online Work Request. There is a section on the login page where users can retrieve “forgotten” passwords. Passwords for this site are not emailed at the time access is granted. You should use the “forgot password” option to have the system email you the correct password. If the forgot password option indicated that you are not in the system, please email Psych IT.

If you are not at the university, use the VPN or e-mail option…

3. E-Mail psychit@uconn.edu.

You will get an acknowledgment via comments entered on the on-line Work Request and via email
when completed.

If this is an emergency…

4. Call Eddie at (860-377-8403), or if he is not available, call Matthew Butwill (6-5346 / 860-377-9018) or Brandon (6-5346 / 860-576-6404).
Email to Matthew or Brandon is also an option should neither be available via telephone, but please copy Eddie.

5. If you are unsatisfied with the response or response time, please contact Etan Markus

Resources

For help with the Psychological Sciences Department network (and other issues) please visit Psych IT Confluence Page

Hardware Support

Operating Systems

Word Processing

Data Analysis

Email

Remote Conferencing

Web Browsers

File and Data Transfer

Antivirus

Other Software

Footnotes

[1] a.) Windows: Current machine must be minimally Windows 10 / Windows 11 compatible, with at least an Intel i5, i7 processor or AMD processor released since 2010, with Trusted Platform Module [TPM – Windows] for encryption, a DirectX 11.0-capable Graphics Processor, at least 120 250 GB solid state hard drive (SSD) and a minimum 8 GB of RAM (required for 64-bit) with 16 GB RAM recommended. Older PC’s not meeting/exceeding specifications above cannot adequately run current software. Newer PC’s may not be able to run prior versions of Windows if device hardware is incompatible, lacking current drivers, or otherwise outside of the Original Equipment Manufacturers (“OEM”) support period.

[1] b.) Apple: Current machine must be Mac OS X 10.14-11.6 15 or above; or Mac OS 12 compatible, with at least 250 GB hard drive and a minimum of 8 GB or RAM (required for 64-bit) with 16 GB RAM recommended.  Old Apple computers not meeting/exceeding specifications above may not adequately run current software. Newer Apple computers may not be able to run prior versions of Mac OS if device hardware is incompatible, they lack current drivers, or are otherwise outside of the Original Equipment Manufacturers (“OEM”) support period.

Office computers will be configured by default to provide whole-disk encryption with automatic updates enabled. All laptops (Macs included) will be configured by default to provide whole-disk encryption with automatic updates enabled. Those running Windows and Mac OS X 10.12 15 or higher version will be bound to the UConn Active Directory allowing authentication with NETID/password.

[2] Only Mac OS X 10.14 15 or higher will run be supported for Office 2019.

[3] Email: See https://email.uconn.edu (to login, use EMAIL ADDRESS and NetID password). Configuration information is available at confluencehttps://kb.uconn.edu.

[4] The Psychological Sciences Department manages departmental use of a University-wide license for this web-based survey software. Those needing a department Qualtrics account should request one via JIRA. Note that a new off-network Qualtrics app is available for use by faculty, staff, and students at UConn.