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Policies and Guidelines

Guidelines for Computer and Networking Purchases at Northwestern University

Official recommendations for departmental, student and personal computer and networking purchases. Revised every three to six months.

Audience:

All members of the Northwestern Community and users of the University network.

Definition:

Official recommendations for departmental, student and personal computer and networking purchases. Revised every three to six months.

Policy Statement:

NUIT has developed these guidelines to assist students, staff and faculty in purchasing computer systems. Purchasing a computer is a major investment, and NUIT wants to help you make a wise and secure investment.

Background Issues:

NUIT develops these guidelines to assist undergraduate students purchase computer systems for use in the residence halls. Purchasing a computer is a major investment, and we want to help you make a wise investment.

We believe that these configurations will last for approximately 30 months. We recommend middle- to higher-end technology for two reasons:

  1. To anticipate the use of resource-intensive applications, especially in the dorms
  2. Because today's high-end technology may still be useful for these resource-intensive tasks by the time you're a junior or senior

Ultimately, though, it's up to you as to whether you purchase computer technology that is lower than our recommendation.

While these guidelines are meant for students, we encourage all members of the Northwestern community to consider these guidelines when making computer purchases for home or personal use.

University use by staff and faculty

NUIT develops these guidelines to help departments and University faculty and staff purchase computer systems for use within Northwestern. We believe these guidelines are important for a number of reasons:

  • To protect the University's investment by recommending appropriate products with a reasonable life span
  • To make support easier by reducing the variety of items that need to be supported
  • To give direction to the University community
  • To make it possible to streamline the purchasing process

We believe our recommended configurations will last for approximately 30-36 months. After three years of service, we recommend retiring and replacing aging computer systems.

NUIT encourages comment on these guidelines. Please send your suggestions for improving these guidelines and documents to it-feedback@northwestern.edu.

Original Issue Date:

September 2003

Revision Dates:

September 2003

Additional Information

PCs for University use
Macs for University use
PC software
Mac software
PDAs
Other hardware and software
PCs for personal use
Macs for personal use

Last Updated: 24 July 2007