Here are a few answers about who owns the computer provided by the university, how often it might be upgraded, and what supplies the English Department provides.
Ownership
The ultimate funding source determines ownership.
- Equipment purchased from your bank account belongs to you.
- An item purchased through a university budget belongs to the university.
- If you buy an item and are then reimbursed by the university, that item becomes university property.
- An item's cost does not alter this: It applies equally to cheap flash drives and expensive workstations.
If you retire or move to another institution, university-owned equipment stays with the university.
Upgrades
The College of Arts & Sciences attempts to fund the replacement of one computer per faculty member every 5 years. It does this, when funds permit, through its Workstation Initiative.
The college configures a handful of PCs and Apples and assigns point values to each configuration. Departments are awarded points which they can "spend" by selecting these pre-configured computers. By buying a few systems in bulk, the college can provide more equipment overall.
You'll note that no money flows from the college to the departments in this process. The points awarded during the initiative cannot be "cashed-in" and spent on alternate equipment.
Trickle-down
The college provides computers for teaching assistants through the trickle-down from the Workstation Initiative. Thus, when you receive a new computer through the initiative, your old computer is recycled to a teaching assistant.
If you find it necessary to take your university computer home, a second computer for your office is not guaranteed. TAs have priority for hand-me-down equipment, since this is their only source of hardware. Consequently, if a second computer becomes available, it will at best be the same caliber as the equipment provided to teaching assistants.
Printing
The department supports monochrome printing. If your office contains an inkjet printer, the department will provide black ink cartridges.
The department provides consumables for printers that are sited in an office on campus. If the printer goes home, we ask faculty to provide their own supplies while the printer is off campus.