The following is a list of the services the school's computer support provides, in priority order.

1. Classes in session: Enabling students in class to complete their work within the period is the top priority. Therefore, any problem reported by faculty members for a class in session will receive immediate attention. Faculty members should indicate the machine name and the nature of the problem. Training sessions for faculty members and teaching assistants will be provided so that they can better identify and possibly troubleshoot problems.

2. Service disruptions and equipment failure: Problems with existing installations, including network disruptions and other hardware and software failures will receive timely attention. Initial visits will include diagnosis and troubleshooting. Our goal is to solve problems as quickly as possible. But in the event that the problem is not solvable on the spot, we will provide a time at which we will follow up, either with a solution or an update on status. Service for all outages reported after 4:45 p.m. may be deferred until the next morning.

3. General software/hardware support: Individuals often have questions about how to make their software or hardware work. Questions of this sort are not urgent and receive lower priority than service outages. If available, however, on-call computer staff members will provide 15 minutes of immediate phone or desk support. If not available, this will be scheduled to the first available slot. If the question cannot be answered in 15 minutes, an appointment will be scheduled. We also will track the questions that come in. As we deem necessary, we will provide either how-to documentation or a training session. Any questions received after 4:30 p.m. will be responded to on the next business day.

4. Classroom updates: As new software or hardware is available for computer classrooms, we will schedule installation, working with faculty members to arrange appropriate times. Rooms generally will need to be closed during such operations, so we will make every effort to minimize the impact of those closures.

5. New installations for faculty and staff offices: As individuals receive new hardware or software, they can place installation requests. These are lower priority than service outages and will be attended to on a schedule. At the time of the request, an appointment will be made to perform the installation. Our goal is to provide this service within two days of the request, though this will depend on staff availability and the demands of other services. If for any reason we cannot honor the scheduled appointment, we will inform the client and reschedule.

6. Student offices: Graduate student offices are equipped with computers. Users who report problems will receive a scheduled appointment at which diagnosis and solution will be attempted. If a problem cannot be solved in a first visit, a follow-up will be scheduled. Software added by students that is not otherwise supported within the school will receive best-effort support only. Student machines receive lower priority than faculty, staff and classroom machines.

7. Additional services: In addition to installation and troubleshooting, computer support provides other services. We maintain servers and printers. As needed, these may be down for maintenance or upgrade. We will inform faculty and staff members and students of outages, attempting to minimize their impact. Also, we will work with faculty and staff members on longer-term initiatives. Examples of these include electronic calendaring and development of appropriate file-sharing structures for administrative, teaching and research groups. We will also provide occasional training sessions and informal talks about technology developments within the School. Anyone with a particular need or interest can propose such a session, which we will then schedule.

8. Contacting computer staff members: For all non-urgent requests, the best channel is e-mail. Please write to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Look for new contact methods, coming soon.

Our aim is to provide you with the best service we can, as quickly as we can. Please remember that there are only three of us.