by Seth Novogrodsky, LSCR Faculty Team Project Manager
December 1, 2007—The Letters & Science Computing Resources (LSCR) Faculty Support Team provides support to the majority of College departments, and our services are evolving along with the computing needs of those departments. This article is the second in a series that will provide updates in our computing support programs and other topics of interest.
If you are not currently using LSCR's faculty support services and are interested in more information, please feel free to contact us, and we will be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Because department chairs often have more than one office computer (and often more than one office), there is sometimes confusion about which LSCR support team supports which computer. For departments that have Annual Desktop Support contracts with us, the computer used in the faculty member's "chair" capacity (i.e., for administrative functions related to responsibilities as chair) is supported by either the Ohlone or Tilden team. Any other computers that chair may have are supported by the LSCR Faculty Support team.
In order to better meet the needs of L&S faculty, we are exploring alternative models for faculty support. One example of an idea would be to provide most faculty support under an annual subscription model, with a single annual fee instead of hourly charges for service. We are considering a variety of options and always appreciate the input of our customers, so if you have any thoughts about what sort of model for faculty computing support would best meet your needs, please contact Tom Holub at tom@LS.Berkeley.EDU.
Tom Holub, Director of Computing for the College of Letters & Science, now has a blog. Current articles are available on the LSCR home page. The blog is forum for Tom to address current computing issues on campus and for readers to comment and ask questions about the topics addressed. Please feel free to contact us if you would like us assist you in subscribing to the blog through your email client or web browser.
Most new PCs are now shipping with Windows Vista and all new Macs are now shipping with Mac OS X "Leopard." We recommend that users hold off on upgrading existing computers to these operating systems at this time. Please see LSCR recommends holding off on upgrading to Windows Vista and MacOS X 10.5 "Leopard" for more information.
From Saturday, December 22, 2007, through Tuesday, January 1, 2008, heating and ventilation will be shut off in most campus buildings. Please see 2007-2008 Holiday Energy Curtailment for details. As in the past, LSCR's desktop support services will not be available during this period.
