Effective: April 14, 2021

Policy Review Date: YEAR

Policy Executive: Chief of Staff

Responsible Office/Unit: Information Services and Security

Policy Statement:

Applicability:

Content:

          Policy
          Appendix A - Computer Equipment Replacement, Purchasing and Disposal Procedure

(1) Policy

A. CWU is committed to life-cycle replacement of faculty and staff computing equipment to ensure their primary computing resource is sufficiently modern, powerful, functional, and secure. In the fulfillment of this commitment, this policy is designed to guide the regular replacement of computing equipment and to centralize computer equipment replacement, purchasing, and disposal within the Information Services and Security department.

(2) Scope

A. This policy applies to all computing equipment provided to faculty and permanent staff purchased using University funds, other than grants, as well as all computing equipment located in classrooms and computer labs.

B. This policy covers ONE system per employee in a four-year lifecycle.

C. Computing equipment used by student workers, temporary staff, and non-tenure track faculty with less than an academic year appointment is not covered under the equipment replacement policy.

D. Departments may fund computing equipment for student workers, temporary staff, and non-tenure track faculty with less than an academic year appointment if the end of life-cycle computing equipment available does not fit their needs.

(3) Replacement Lifecycle

A. All institutionally funded computing equipment will be replaced at a regular four-year lifecycle. The Information Services (IS) department will maintain a computer asset management database to establish the purchase and replacement date of computing equipment. When financially possible, computing equipment will be replaced in the fiscal year occurring after the end of the lifecycle period.

(4) Computing Equipment Fund

A. Beginning in FY22 and in all subsequent years, in conjunction with the annual budget planning cycle, the University will establish an annual computing equipment fund sufficient to replace the computing equipment that will be at end of lifecycle status during that year. All computing equipment purchased by the institution with the computing equipment fund and the computer replacement program (2018-19) are the property of the institution, not of the department or individual.

(5) Responsibilities

A. The Associate Vice President for Information Services and Security is responsible for this policy and the relevant procedure, See Appendix A.

(6) Policy Maintenance

A. The Associate Vice President for Information Services and Security will review and recommend changes to this policy at least annually or more frequently as needed to respond to changes within the institution. This policy is subject to change based on periodic review, budgetary constraints, or other factors.

History: 

Responsibility: AVP of ISS; Authority: Cabinet/UPAC; Reviewed/Endorsed by: Cabinet/UPAC; Review/Effective Date: 04/14/2021; Approved by: James L. Gaudino, President
Reformatted and Assigned new Policy Number - Previous Policy CWUP 2-70-070, June 2025
Attached Procedure CWUR 7-60-070 as Appendix A, June 2025

Appendix A - Computer Center Access & Maintenance Procedure

(1) Standards

A. The IS department will publish recommended standard configurations annually. The standard configuration options will be determined each year based on available funds, price-performance analysis, and market conditions, and in collaboration with the EISC Computing Standards advisory group. This baseline cost will be used to establish the available funding for the custom configuration option. The manufacturer’s warranty of at least three years must be included in the purchase of the computing equipment for all options.

(2) Computing Equipment Provisioning and Retrieval

A. When a new employee joins the university, they will be issued computing equipment by the IS department. When an employee leaves CWU, the IS department will retrieve the computing equipment, which will be re-imaged and deployed to another employee as needed until the end of its lifecycle.

(3) End of Lifecycle Use

A. Computing equipment purchased or replaced by the computing equipment fund shall be identifiable by individual user. All replaced computing equipment must be returned to IS. Departments may not repurpose end-of-lifecycle computing equipment within the department. Standard and custom configuration equipment will be redeployed to a secondary location beyond the lifecycle period. The additional use beyond the end of the lifecycle period provides students, faculty, and staff with additional computing resources and as a result extends funding available for the standard configuration options. End of life-cycle equipment will be made available to departments by written request through the Service Desk ticketing system. End of life-cycle equipment is not subject to a four-year replacement cycle.

(4) Loss and Damage

A. Any computing equipment stolen or lost will be replaced by departmental funds. If the computing equipment has accidental damage and handling warranty coverage, the warranty will be used in case of damage. If outside of the warranty period, damage will be covered by department funds.

(5) Replacement Options

A. When the standard four-year lifecycle on primary computing equipment ends, the options for replacement are as follows:

1. Pick from one of the published standard configurations. At the end of the four-year cycle, the equipment will be replaced per this policy and the recycled equipment re-deployed or disposed of in accordance with university policies.
2. Request a custom configuration. IS will provide up to the amount for a standard configuration toward a single system. Department budgets are responsible for covering additional costs for custom configurations. Custom configurations require consultation with IS staff to ensure that the purchase is compliant with all purchasing policies. Custom configured computing equipment, including upgraded components, will be returned to IS to be deployed to a secondary location at the end of the lifecycle period.
3. An employee may choose to defer replacement for one additional year, if the computing equipment is able to run a current OS, the hardware is fully supported by the manufacturer, and there is no known security risk in leaving the equipment in use.

(6) Purchasing

A. All computing equipment procured using institutional funds, other than grants, will be purchased by the IS department in accordance with the established standards and this procedure document.

(7) Disposal

A. End of lifecycle computing equipment that is no longer serviceable will be sent to the Surplus and Asset Management Department for disposal in accordance with institutional policy.

(8) Additional Information

A. For further information on this policy, please contact the Information Services and Security department.