HLS home : administration : its : faculty :
Information Technology Services

Faculty Hardware Services

Faculty Hardware

Professors and Assistant Professors

It is the decision of the faculty member if they would like to be provided with a desktop computer or a laptop.  It is also the decision of the faculty member if they would like to use the discretionary portion of their faculty allowance to purchase an additional an computer or upgrades to standard computer configurations.  These upgrades may include, for example, a docking station, a larger monitor, a faster processor, or additional memory. To ensure these systems are the most up-to-date and reliable, a schedule to upgrade and/or replace each system is tracked within ITS.  All desktop computers are upgraded every four (4) years and all laptops are upgraded every three (3) years.

Visiting Professors and Lecturers

ITS provides visiting professors (VPs) and lecturers with an HLS-owned standard desktop computer, monitor, and printer in a designated office provided by Faculty Support Services.  If VPs and lecturers would like to use their faculty allowance for hardware upgrades, they should contact the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA). If approved by OAA, ITS will purchase and configure additional hardware needed by VPs and lecturers.

Back to top

Standard Hardware Configurations

All computers distributed to Law School faculty will have standard HLS hardware configurations. Please refer to the list below for specific hardware configurations:

Printers, Maintenance, and Repair

ITS installs, configures, and supports one Hewlett Packard (HP) LaserJet printer for each faculty member. Printers are reviewed annually and replaced as needed or are replaced when specific models are no longer supported by HP. When a printer problem is reported, ITS will troubleshoot the problem and determine whether the printer can be repaired internally or if our vendor should be contacted for the repair.

Back to top

IKON Printers

There are 16 IKON networked copiers located at various places around the Law School campus. These printers are ideal for large print jobs that need to be sorted and/or stapled. If a faculty member would like to send an electronic copy of a document from his/her computer to one of these printers, please let ITS know. We will make a desk side visit and configure a printer for use and demonstrate how to send information to this printer. Instructions on how to scan are available at each IKON printer. There is also one (1) color IKON printer located in Langdell 130 for faculty who wish to print documents in color.

Back to top

Flash/USB Drives

ITS provides all professors and assistant professors a free, portable storage device called a Flash Drive. This device is simple to use and plugs into any USB port (PC or Mac). Once connected, faculty members are able to copy any electronic information to the flash drive including PowerPoint presentations, media files, Word documents, and photos. The flash drive is a self-contained storage device that can carry up to 512 MB of information.

Back to top

PDA Devices (Blackberries and Treos)

Currently, ITS supports and configures Palm, Treos, and Blackberry PDA devices. For a consultation on determining the best and most appropriate PDA device, the professor or assistant professor should contact the Faculty/Staff Help Desk. Professors and assistant professors are welcome to use the discretionary portion of their faculty allowance to purchase PDAs.

Back to top

Self Service Scanner

Located in Hauser 030 (near the Student Help Desk), a color-scanner equipped with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is available to all faculty, faculty assistants, and staff. Faculty can use the scanner to convert hard copies of information into an electronic format. The scanner is self-service and works on a first-come-first-serve basis. Instructions on how to use the scanner are provided next to the scanner or a one-to-one tutorial can be provided.

Back to top

Home/Personal Computers

Professors and Assistant Professors

In addition to providing professors and assistant professors with an office computer, faculty are welcome to use the discretionary portion of their faculty allowance to purchase a computer for home use (ITS asks that faculty purchase computers at http://www.computers.harvard.edu). For example, faculty may choose to have a desktop computer at work and a laptop for home (or travel) use. The Faculty/Staff Help Desk is available to help faculty members determine the best computer set-up for their professional needs.

Visiting Professors and Lecturers

In addition to providing VPs and lecturers with a desktop computer, ITS will help VPs and lecturers connect their personal laptops to the Law School wireless network. To ensure that the ITS network is kept clean of viruses, ITS requests that personal laptops have up-to-date virus protection software installed and also have a strong administrator password established before connecting to the HLS network.

Back to top

Purchasing Hardware

To ensure all HLS faculty purchase the computer hardware that most suits their professional needs, ITS offers a service where we will research, coordinate, and ultimately purchase all needed hardware and peripherals. Currently, the Law School purchases hardware through three primary vendors:  IBM for PCs, Apple for Macs, and HP for printers.  Law School faculty that wish to purchase their computers through the Faculty-Staff Help Desk can be assured that their computers will be pre-installed with the Law School's standard software suite.  It is highly recommended that any Law School Faculty who wishes to purchase a new computer or peripherals contact the Faculty-Staff Help Desk for a consultation.

Back to top

Printer and Computer Supplies

The ITS Faculty-Staff Help Desk (Hauser 020) offers computer and printer supplies for faculty and faculty assistant's office machines at no cost to faculty members. Available supplies include printer toner cartridges, USB flash drives (one per faculty member), CDs, diskettes, etc.. To order these supplies, please contact the Faculty-Staff Help Desk.

Back to top

Loaner Wireless Broadband Cards

To ensure wireless accessibility when traveling, ITS has purchased two mobile broadband cards. These mobile cards simply connect to your laptop and provide instant internet access. Faculty are welcome to borrow these wireless cards when traveling to locations that may or may not have internet access.  To schedule one of the two wireless cards, please contact the Faculty-Staff Help Desk at 5.0722. Mobile cards are available for all PCs and Intel-based Macs. Please note that these cards can be borrowed for a maximum of 5 days.

Back to top

Retired Equipment Policy

The current policy for "retired" equipment is for ITS to make an assessment of the equipment and to see if it has other uses here at Harvard Law School. If it is deemed of no use, it will be slated for recycling or donated to a non-profit agency.

Back to top