Computer and Network Services guidelines 

The acronym "CNS" refers to Computer and Network Services. This is the department in charge of computer hardware and software installation and management, management of the DACC network, the DACC website, the E-mail system for employees and students, and a variety of other data services.

Software

We attempt to standardize application software as much as possible. This keeps costs down, and at the same time makes it easy for users to share documents with each other within departments or across campus. The primary application at DACC is Microsoft Office. This includes Word for word processing, Excel for spreadsheets, Access for databases, PowerPoint for presentations, and Publisher for desktop publishing. We encourage users to use Office whenever possible for these reasons. When non-standard software must be installed, it must be purchased and owned by DACC to ensure licensing compliance.

Shared E-mail accounts

For security reasons, we provide E-mail accounts for individuals only. In this way, we can associate one person with one E-mail account. We do sometimes provide shared E-mail inboxes for departments; this allows a department to have a shared address with which to receive E-mail, and all members of a group can be given access to that inbox. However, we do not provide shared E-mail accounts with E-mail sending capabilities.

Non-DACC computer equipment

Computer equipment that is not owned by DACC should not be connected to the DACC network without the involvement of CNS. We recognize that there are times when external equipment may need to be brought to campus -- for example, for presentations, demonstrations, et cetera. These devices will be placed into a separate sub-network to isolate them from DACC-owned workstations, while still giving them Internet access. These restrictions decrease the risk of non-DACC computers bringing dangerous software ("malware") to the DACC network. Malware can include viruses, Trojan horses, spyware, adware, and so on.

Workstation privileges

We do not grant users administrative privileges to workstations owned by DACC. This is done in an effort to maintain network security and stability, and also to ensure compliance with software licensing. We have found through years of experience that when users install their own software, it is often necessary for CNS to become involved to resolve various issues, and this can take much more time than it would for us to perform the installations ourselves. In addition, security issues can come up without any action on the part of the user; working in an environment where permissions are limited helps to mitigate these potential issues. Finally, adding more software to a computer generally increases the potential for instability and security issues, especially when this software comes from unknown sources.

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As always, if you have any questions about the services CNS provides, please feel free to contact us.

Computer and Network Services