Purchasing Technology

Thinking about buying a technology solution, system or hardware at Davidson?

Whether you need to buy a laptop for a new employee, or want to purchase academic or administrative software for college use, Technology & Innovation (T&I) can assist you in the process.

Computer Workstations

T&I facilitates the purchase, setup and ongoing security of all college-owned computers, regardless of who pays for the device.

• Department-paid: Departments pay the initial cost to buy the primary workstation for newly created positions; those computers are then replaced by T&I on a four year cycle. Other computers, such as research lab systems and others funded with new faculty startup funds, are always paid from departmental or faculty/grant funds, not by T&I.
• T&I-paid: T&I pays for the replacement cost of existing employee workstations. These computers are replaced every four years. T&I also replaces computers in classrooms, public computers across campus, computer labs/clusters and selected teaching labs on a regular cycle. 

Computer Workstation Purchasing Policy

Computer Purchasing Standards

Research Computing Resources

High performance computing equipment purchases are managed and coordinated with T&I, regardless of the funding source. This includes compute (CPU/GPU) nodes, storage, network, or visualization technologies used for computationally-intensive research, teaching, and learning. T&I supports and manages the purchased equipment, usually as part of the campus’ Lovelace computing cluster. 

Networked Equipment Purchases & AV Equipment

Any equipment with a networked component must be purchased and installed with the coordination of T&I. 

• Classroom and conference room audiovisual systems: T&I consults with departments and divisions on audiovisual needs and should be involved before making any purchases of videoconferencing equipment.
• Wired or wireless network devices (switches, access points, etc.): The campus wired and wireless network is maintained by T&I. Divisions and departments may not purchase or connect network equipment without consulting T&I.
• Credit card payment terminals: All credit card payment terminals including point of sale machines must be reviewed by T&I Information Security and the Controller’s Office to ensure they meet our standards for payment card industry compliance and security. Owners of these devices, once approved, must agree to participate in an annual attestation of compliance process. After approval, these devices must be connected via cellular/mobile networks or to an approved segment of the campus network,
• Video surveillance cameras: Any use cases for video surveillance cameras must be approved by Public Safety. Once approved, work with T&I to review the technology options for a camera system.
• Building management and security systems: These devices may not be connected to the network without coordination with T&I to ensure they are located on the correct network segment, and without approval of Physical Plant

Academic Software

The college centrally funds academic software licenses for products that are used by multiple departments and academic programs. As permitted by license restrictions, T&I installs this software on computer cluster/loaner laptops and distributes it to students, faculty and staff.

A list of licensed academic software can be found on the T&I Support Center. 

Requests for new academic software typically begin with a discussion with the T&I Relationship Manager assigned to the department. Such software requests are subject to a contract review to make sure that the software complies with the College contract policy and T&I’s technology contract guidelines. 

For software requested for a single course or a single department’s use, the requester or department will typically pay for the software, and will work with T&I on licensing. 

Collegewide funding may be requested for academic software that would be used in three or more departments. The faculty’s Learning Spaces, Technology, and Design Committee (LSTDC) provides input and advice regarding T&I site license spending. Departments seeking T&I funding for a new license as opposed to funding it through the department should work with their Relationship Manager to place a request for software consideration. To submit a request for academic software, contact your T&I relationship manager.

Administrative Software & Enterprise Applications

Davidson uses over 200 administrative software applications, from departmental applications used by specific teams to enterprise-level software used by all students or employees. Our Engagement team works with departments and divisions to continually assess technology needs that may apply to the entire campus. 

Funding 

As a general rule, and subject to T&I’s approval of the selected system, department- or division-specific technology solutions are funded and managed by the unit using the solution. Costs for solutions used by multiple divisions are either shared by those divisions or transferred to T&I. The division(s) funding the service make decisions about the solution’s renewal, replacement or retirement. 

Regardless of who covers costs, solutions used by the college must meet expectations set forth in the Technology Purchasing Guide (Davidson login required)

Purchasing Process

If you or your department are considering an administrative or enterprise software application or a contract related to technology, contact T&I. Your Relationship Manager will work with you to perform a thorough assessment, including:

• Ensuring the solution meets a stated business need, integrates into our environment and is aligned with our technology strategy, and Technology Purchasing Guide (Davidson login required).
• Assessing the solution’s security and compliance, beginning with Educause's higher education community vendor assessment process.
• Reviewing the solution provider’s contract for IT-related issues. 

Per the college’s Contracts Policy (Davidson login required), our Chief Information Officer will also perform a review of the solution, prior to general counsel review.