This document provides a basic guideline regarding what support is offered by ECE Computing to faculty, staff, and official visitors.

Support offered to permanent faculty and staff

The department (IT Computing) provides the following support to UW ECE faculty and staff for UW owned & registered (UW Asset tag) hardware:

  • Desktop/Laptop computer and monitor
  • Licensed software
  • Printing support (Main Office & M311 Ricoh’s)
  • Network connection issues inside faculty offices (Wall ports)
  • Windows 11 and Unix (macOS 14 Sonoma) Troubleshooting Support
  • Faculty laptop\Desktop (Software support & Limited Hardware support):
    • Only department owned laptops\desktops will be supported
    • One (1) laptop\desktop per faculty will be supported (registered with IT Computing Group)
    • Operating Systems supported: Windows 11 Enterprise and macOS 14 Sonoma
    • Only licensed software that the IT Computing Group distributes for laptops will be supported
    • Faculty are responsible for all data backups & ensuring that there is an admin password on the device (at time of support, if needed)
    • Supported laptops\desktops will be under warranty, all others will be on a case by case scenario
  • Lost or Stolen Computer! Report an Incident immediately!

Support offered to research faculty (recently appointed) and support staff

 

General Research Support Policies

IT Computing Group

1. Scope of Complimentary Support (Startup Period Only)

The IT Computing Group provides limited, time-bound support to research laboratories only during the first year of a new lab’s startup phase. This initial support is intended to assist with foundational infrastructure setup and does not include ongoing or advanced research system administration (research servers and/or research related software).

2. Services Included During the Startup Year

During the one-year startup period, the following support services may be provided:

Networking

  • Installation of (approved & purchased) network switches and cabling within the laboratory

  • Integration of lab systems into the approved research network (networking and firewall rules)

Procurement Guidance

  • Consultation on the selection and purchase of appropriate PCs for research use (if requested)

  • Assistance with initial installation of supported Windows 11, Windows Server 2025 or Linux (Alma)  operating systems

  • Configuration of administrative access required for future maintenance of lab PC’s

Physical Computer Support

  • Limited support for lab PCs only if:

    • The system is joined to the ECE domain, and

    • The system meets the IT Computing Group’s standard support requirements, including a supported operating system

  • This support does not include:

    • Installation or maintenance of research software

    • Support for specialized peripherals or lab equipment

Server Acquisition & Installation (Rack Installation Only)

  • Guidance in identifying and procuring appropriate server hardware

  • Physical rack mounting of servers in the designated research server room, subject to space availability

  • Server room access is limited to business hours and requires the presence of IT Computing staff

⚠ Important:
Ongoing server administration, maintenance, monitoring, patching, backups, troubleshooting, and recovery are not included in complimentary support.

3. Research Server Support Is a Paid Service

Support for research servers is not free.

  • After initial installation, all ongoing server support is the responsibility of the research lab

  • Continued IT Computing Group involvement requires a formal, paid support plan

  • Paid support plans must be:

    • Clearly defined

    • Approved by the department

    • Funded by the research lab or sponsoring unit

Without an approved support plan, IT Computing does not provide ongoing server maintenance or operational support.

4. Storage Guidance

  • IT Computing can provide guidance on:

    • On-site and off-site storage options

    • University of Washington–provided storage services

  • At this time, no complimentary on-site research storage is available through IT Computing

5. Post-Startup & Emergency Support

  • After the one-year startup period, any research support requests will be:

    • Evaluated on a case-by-case basis

    • Subject to availability and departmental approval

  • Emergency assistance for both new and existing research labs is not guaranteed and does not replace a formal support agreement

6. Ongoing Support for Existing or Non-New Research Labs

For:

  • Research labs beyond their startup year, or

  • Faculty who are not newly appointed

A pay-for-service research support plan may be established with appropriate departmental approval.

The Department Chair\Director of Computing must authorize any exceptions to the Research Computing Support Policy.  

Please don’t hesitate to email us at help@ece.uw.edu or come by to see us if you have any problems or questions. 

Lost or Stolen Computer! Report an Incident immediately!

Support offered to departmental visitors

The department provides the following to official department visitors:

  • All available licensed or donated software on ECE Department provided hardware

The PI or lab sponsoring the visitor is responsible for providing:

  • Computer and monitor
  • Ongoing computer support

If the visitor will need access to ECE computing resources, they must first obtain a UW NetID. Information on obtaining a NetID can be found on UW’s “Accounts and Passwords” page. Once the visitor has a NetID, their sponsor can add it to the appropriate group.