BGSU Employee Device Upgrade Standards

The purpose of this standard is to ensure an optimal, consistent experience for employees of Bowling Green State University (BGSU) with their primary, university-provided device (computer).  

These standards apply to primary devices provided to permanent, full-time BGSU employees from non-auxiliary departments and eligible faculty emeriti. 

1. Information Technology Services (ITS) is responsible for establishing standard computer models that are used by BGSU.
   • Standard models are established with the intent that they can be used for five or more years.
   • Standard models can be found here: https://www.bgsu.edu/its/support/udevice
2. Primary devices are replaced on a five-year cycle. 
   • Devices may be replaced earlier than five years if either of the following criteria is met:
     • The employee has a change in job or job duties that requires a different device.
     • ITS has determined that due to the number of reported and verified hardware issues, a full device replacement is the most effective course of action.
3. Each college or division identifies at least one contact that works with ITS to coordinate the annual device replacements for their college/division.
4. For employees to be eligible to receive a higher end standard model (Dell Precision or Apple MacBook Pro), they need to perform job-required tasks or functions that require a higher level of processing power on a weekly or greater basis.
   • Examples: Photo/video editing, statistical analysis of large data sets, software creation, or testing requiring multiple local virtual machines.
   • Employees must submit a request for approval by their supervisor, their college/division contact, and ITS.
5. Employees are responsible for ensuring that the BGSU standard computer models meet or exceed the recommended requirements for any specialized software they use.
   • Departments may have to fund higher-end computers to meet their specialized software requirements.
6. In certain cases, employees may require the use of a secondary device for their work.  Secondary devices are not eligible for replacement through the Employee Device Upgrade program.  Secondary device replacements must be funded by their department.
   • Employees may be eligible to receive a secondary device if:
     • Their work includes tasks that require hours of processing on a weekly or greater basis.
     • Their work requires them to test software that cannot be used on a virtual computer on a weekly or greater basis.

Exceptions to this standard must be approved by the Chief Information Officer or their designee.

This standard will be reviewed annually by the Director of Client Services and updated as necessary.