Texas State

Office of the Vice President

for Student Affairs NEW ====================================================================

Purchase and Support of SA/PPS No. 09.06

Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) Issue No. 2

Effective: 03/04/03

Page 1 of 3

01. POLICY STATEMENT

01.01 The Student Affairs Division is committed to the recruitment and retention of a diverse and qualified student body, and to providing services that enhance their personal development and contribute to the fulfillment of their goals. The following procedures contribute to the implementation of this policy.

01.02 We at Texas State University - San Marcos are committed to supporting the educational mission of the institution through efficient information technology availability and support. The following procedure contributes to the fulfillment of this policy.

02. DEFINITIONS

02.01 A PDA is classified as a portable electronic device that interfaces with a divisional workstation. A PDA is primarily used for personal information management, including remote calendar and task management.

02.02 "Divisional support" is defined as the support given to departments from the VPSA technical staff.

03. PURCHASING PROCESS

03.01 The purchasing process will follow the guidelines established in this SAPPS. The format of the purchase request should include a statement of support at the department, not divisional level, a recommendation of which PDA to install which is compatible to an existing workstation, restriction of PDAs for only limited functions built into the design (i.e. calendar, tasks), how the PDA will be used in the job function and approval by the director. In addition, an on going "pro’s and con’s" document will be maintained by the VPSA Office to ensure departmental directors have as much information as possible when making a decision on a PDA.

03.02 PDAs purchased with university funds should be processed through the VPSA office, consistent with other technology purchases. PDAs purchased with personal funds must have director’s approval to install on a university workstation. The VPSA Office should be notified that a personal PDA is being used on the university workstation.

04. STANDARDS FOR PURCHASING

04.01 The VPSA office will maintain recommendation for the standard PDAs to purchase. Due to the rapidly changing technology, recommendations will be given with each PDA requested. Recommendations will also be given when new operating systems for both computers and PDAs change to ensure the most efficient installation and maintenance.

05. INSTALLATION AND SUPPORT

05.01 Installation and support for PDAs will be at the departmental level. Should a PDA corrupt a computer’s operating system, the department technical staff will reinstall the image for the machine and data stored on the server or through other backup methods. The divisional technical staff is not responsible for the data on the PDA.

05.02 Users of PDAs will be encouraged to use the web sites supported by the companies when issues arise.

05.03 PDAs used with applications (i.e. I Scribe with the Health Center) will be supported through the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) required before the application is purchased. Requests to use PDA’s with applications that are not designed to integrate with them, based on the SDLC, will not be granted or supported.

05.04 Directors will be updated on issues relating to PDAs through their IT Team member. The efforts of the IT Team will focus on assisting directors to understand the logistical issues related to PDA’s as well as the philosophical issues of personal hardware or software installed onto a university computer.

05.05 Training will not be provided for technical staff to work with PDAs. Individual users will be responsible for their own training.

06. MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SA/PPS

06.01 Major responsibilities for routine assignments associated with this SA/PPS include the following:

Information Technology Review EY

Team

07. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

This SA/PPS has been approved by the following individuals in their official capacities, and represents Texas State University policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.

Mr. Kevin McCarty, Supervisor, Systems Services, senior reviewer of this SA/PPS

Dr. Joanne Smith, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, reviewer of this SA/PPS

Dr. James D. Studer, Vice President for Student Affairs