This is a Service Level Agreement (SLA) between Camden Computing Services and our Rutgers Camden community of faculty, staff and students. This document conveys our commitment to our customer community in various areas, including typical response time guidelines (how quick we normally resolve an issue).

In the below discussion "business day/hour" refers to a unit of time within our normal business working hours, Monday thru Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm. There are times when classes are in session, we also have staff working in the evening and weekends. During those times some of the below services will be available, but not all.

Times given below are our "normal" response/resolution times...what we normally achieve in over 95% of the time. But there are abnormal situations that do occur form time to time, where the times to resolve an issue may take longer.

All responses from our staff, whether by phone, email or in-person, shall be given in a polite and business-like fashion.

I. Questions, Requests, Problem Reports 

1. email help questions:
All questions sent to "help@camden.rutgers.edu" will be answered within 4 business hours. Some answers to questions take additional investigation and may take up to 2 business days for a solution, but an initial response will be given within 4 business hours, and then follow-up email with the solution will be forthcoming as soon as the question is resolved.

Questions asked during weekends/evenings when Camden Computing Services labs are open will get a response within 4 business hours (the response may be a solution to the question, or that someone will look into it Monday morning, for example, since there is only part time staff on duty on the weekends/evenings).

Questions asked when we are not open will be responded to on the next business day we are open, following the above guideline. Although at times staff will respond to queries from home, during our off hours.
 
2. phone calls:
Questions that have a known answer will be responded to immediately (these are the common questions, like "How do I change my password"). Where answers are not immediately available, the caller's phone number and/or email address (and other pertinent information) will be taken, and someone will get back to the caller normally within 4 business hours. If the question takes further investigation, then up to 2 business days may needed for a response of some kind to be sent back to the client.

3. voice mail:
All messages left on our answering machines/voice mail will be responded to within the next 4 business hours during normal business working days and within 1 business day when left at other times.  

4. direct contact:
Questions that have a known answer will be responded to immediately (these are the common questions, like "How do I change my password"). Where answers are not immediately available, the person's phone number and/or email address (and other pertinent information) will be taken, and someone will get back to the person normally within 4 business hours. If the question takes further investigation, then up to 2 business days may needed for a response of some kind to be sent back to the client.

5. password changes and NetID/account requests:
Requests for password changes are normally made in person to a staff member and the requester must bring a valid ID. For students enrolled in the Remote Password Recovery, they may change their password online once they answer the secret questions. There is staff available during our normal hours of operations (including evenings/weekends during the semester) to change passwords. Passwords are changed immediately once the requester meets with the staff member and presents a valid ID.
Special Password requests or other NetID/account requests that are made by UCS/IT staff or department heads/deans for those faculty/staff in their departments will be handled within 1 business day. 

6. ip/dhcp/dns requests:
Requests for new/changed ip numbers, dhcp or dns service, is usually handled within 1 business day. A request made with incomplete or inaccurate information will be notified of the problem within one business day and the requester will have to resubmit the request after making corrections. 

7. scheduling of Camden Computing Services instructional labs:
Requests made for reserving space in our instructional labs will be handled within 2 business days. Since these are shared facilities, not every request can be fulfilled. Our staff will try their best to accommodate everyone. 

8. restoring files accidentally deleted:
Requests to restore files that were accidentally deleted is normally handled within 4 business hours from the online back up storage. Older files may take up to 2 business days to recover. Since backups of our customer's data are only kept for 8 weeks, restoration can only be made to files up to 8 weeks old. The same occurs for people who have their accounts closed because they leave the university. After a 8 week period, those files they once had are no longer available. 

9. response to direct email (ie. sent to a specific staff member):
Any business email staff receives directly, will be responded to within 1 business days. Assuming, of course, that staff member is not out sick or on vacation, etc.. Week long (or longer) vacation periods, our staff will use the vacation program to automatically notify our customers. 

10. virtual hostname requests:
Request for virtual hostnames will be handled within 1 business day. Not every hostname requested will be available, but staff will work with the requester to find a suitable choice. 
 

II. System/Network Issues

1. network problems:
In case of a network problem where access to the network or internet is no longer functioning, problems will be fixed as soon as possible. Normally minor problems are fixed within 4 business hours of being reported. Major problems may take 2 business days to fix (if parts are required). Often internet connectivity problems are not a Rutgers problem but a problem on the Internet itself or at one of the ISPs that connects to Rutgers. In all cases OIT staff will work with the proper groups to solve any problem as quickly as possible. Extended outages of longer then 4 hours will be noted under announcements on our web pages.
If there is a problem with a data jack in one's office on campus, it will normally be tested and corrected within 2 business days of being reported. Connectivity or other problems with office systems, falls into the support of that department's UCS (your IT support team) and not OIT ..so please contact your UCS at that time.
For home users who connect to Rutgers via an ISP, network connectivity problems are normally some issue with their home pc/network or their ISP. Home users should work with their ISP help desk regarding such issues. 

2. system problems:
In case of Camden Computing Services system's problems, including our main servers (email, web, file and print servers), best effort is given to keep these servers up and running 24x7. Minor system failures will be corrected within 2 business hours. Major system problems including hardware failures, may take 1 business day to correct. Normally, our systems experience an uptime of over 99%. 

3. hardware/software upgrades:
At times upgrades of system hardware, software, and operating systems are performed. Sometime this requires downtime of systems/services on campus. Every effort will be made to minimize these downtimes and work will normally be scheduled during off hours if possible (evenings, weekends, or before 8am in the morning). Announcement of any scheduled work of this nature will be posted ahead of time in our web announce area along with the estimated down time. 

4. software requests:
Requests from faculty/staff for new or upgraded software or hardware must be reviewed. Some requests are not feasible because of incompatibility with existing operating systems, hardware, and other software. Although most requests are feasible and will be acted upon. Requests for new/upgraded software that can be installed, will be installed within a 10 business day period which includes proper review and testing before moving the software into production. This assumes the software has been made available to systems staff and no major issues with the software arise.

Special Note: To have software installed on the severs for the start of the fall semester, all software requests need to be made by July 15th. All software requests for the start of the spring semester need to be made by Dec 15th. Otherwise the software may not be installed in time for the start of the semester. 

5. lab systems:
Systems that are broken in the labs (hardware, software) will be fixed within 2 business days of the problem being reported. At times a system that needs repair must await for hardware that has to be shipped or the system needs to be sent out for repairs. This may prolong the time until the system will be available. This includes all desktop systems (pc, macs) along with printers in our public labs.     
 

III. Communication, Documentation and Training

1. documentation:
On a yearly basis documents and web pages in the Camden Computing Services web site will be reviewed and updated. (This is only the Camden Computing Services web site and not other web pages owned by other departments/individuals). If a mistake or problem is reported with one of our web pages corrections will be made within 2 business days of notification.  

2. communication:
Camden Computing Services will also announce major changes in services, training, hardware, software and other issues that affect our community. The announcements will be made in a timely fashion via our web announce area, fall/spring newsletters, and/or via email to our community (including REACT emails). Regular meetings will be held with all department UCS staff 3 or 4 times a year. 

3. training:
Camden Computing Services provides training sessions on most common applications throughout the year based on interests of our community. These high quality training sessions are given by instructors well versed in the topic. Requests for new seminars will also be taken and evaluated for possible addition to our current training schedule.   
 

IV. General Services

1. account creation:
Students, staff and faculty can create their own accounts immediately if they are properly registered as a member of the Rutgers Community. For special cases (new hires for example) or problem cases, accounts will be created within 4 business hours after receiving the request.

2. security issues:
Security reports of violations or problems will be responded to within 4 business hours. Security problems found with other departmental systems within Rutgers will immediately be passed to the system administrators of these other systems (either contact by phone or email). Abuse problems should be reported following the procedures at: http://abuse.rutgers.edu
 
Security holes in software, hardware or operating systems will be patched quickly. Windows O.S. and Office patches are installed automatically upon release of new patches/versions. Security patches or upgrades to new versions of other software/operating systems are made within 5 business days of the release of the patch/upgrade (time needed to verify correctness of patch). Every effort is made to keep systems, user files, email and all other data secure. Firewalls, patches and many other security steps are implemented to keep IT services, data and the network secure.

3. email services:
Camden Computing Services provides email services with large disk space quotas for faculty, staff and students at Rutgers University in Camden. We also provide virus scanning automatically on incoming email to make sure they are free from viruses and will not attack our customer's systems. Spam filtering is also performed to help our community reduce the amount of Spam they receive. Email is a critical service on our campus and thus we provide 24x7 robust and secure email services. Any downtime will be minimized.  

4. web services:
Camden Computing Services provides web services that includes space for web pages for faculty, staff and students at Rutgers University in Camden. Our web service is a critical service on our campus and thus we provide 24x7 robust and secure web services. Any downtime will be minimized. 

5. file and print services:
Camden Computing Services provides file and print services to systems in the public labs and also some faculty offices. These services are critical services for our campus and we provide a 24x7 robust and secure service. Any downtime will be minimized.

6. Outages:
Any extended outage of a service (normally longer then 4 hours) will be noted in our web announce area in order to help keep our customers informed. Our announce web pages may be found at: "http://www.camden.rutgers.edu/computing/Announce/index.html"  

7. Resident Students:
Students living in our residence buildings on the Camden campus will be provided the same level of service as described above. Particular questions/problems associated with their computer in their room accessing the network should be made to "help@camden.rutgers.edu". First level of support to this email and also support within the building (scheduled room visits) is normally provided by several students who live in the residence buildings and are hired by OIT . If they are unable to resolve certain issues, full time OIT staff will investigate further to offer solutions (some of which may be free and others fee-based). 

8. SmartClassrooms:
There are many smart classrooms around campus that are managed by Camden Computing Services staff (except those in the law building). To see the list of smartclassrooms managed by Camden Computing Services see: http://computing.camden.rutgers.edu/smartclass/index.php For these classrooms, Camden Computing Services will work quickly to fix any problem, normally within 1 business day. Exceptions are when parts need to be ordered or outside vendors need to be brought in, and in those cases, a sign will be posted on the problem system and our smartclassroom web page will have the problem room noted. For smart classrooms that are managed by other departments, Camden Computing Services will work closely with their UCS staff to resolve any issues and to ensure that network connectivity exists at each location. 

9. Contracted Departmental Support:
Various Departments contract Camden Computing Services to support their various systems and services. Our support and services not only include all of the above guidelines, but we will administer these departmental servers in a professional manner with a major effort to keep these systems secure and minimizing downtime.   

10. Computer Hardware/Software Repair:
Camden Computing Services does not maintain a computer repair facility or staff to offer hardware or software repair to the community. This includes actual hardware failures (for example, a hard drive failure), or operating systems problems (for example infections from virus/spyware or missing patches). However, we will assist in email with suggestions for "checking and debugging", and we will spend up to one scheduled hour evaluating the unit and suggesting next steps if the unit is brought to our Help Desk. We always highly recommend a repair facility by an appropriate authorized computer repair service for your specific manufacturer (such as Dell, Apple, Best Buy). Faculty and Staff would normally go to their departmental UCS/IT staff for hardware/software help with their office systems.  
 

Notes:

This SLA applies only to the Camden Computing Services organization. It does not apply to other divisions of OIT, departmental UCS staff or others areas of Rutgers. 

There are circumstances beyond anyone's control that can affect services. Some examples of this include:
-power outage to a building for an extended period. This will disable services that come from servers within that building, such as email or web servers housed in BSB.
-network outages outside of Rutgers, like on the Internet itself or with our internet hand-offs (ISP).
-hardware/parts delivery
But in all of the above cases, we will do our best to quickly resolve the problem and keep our customers informed. 

The time it takes to correct a problem can only be counted from the point in time where we are notified of a problem or notice that a problem exists. For example, a system in an office may not be communicating on the network for days, but our 4 hour time line to respond will start once we are notified that the problem exists. We do pro-actively monitor our systems and attempt to detect failures as soon as they occur. 

Although full time staff work during the normal business week, as stated above, many of the staff will respond to email questions during off hours from home, or come to campus outside business hours to fix system/network problems or to do upgrades to minimize impact on our customers. The Camden Computing Services staff takes pride in their work and in providing an excellent service to the Rutgers-Camden community.

If you have any questions/comments about this SLA, please send email to "help@camden.rutgers.edu".
Thank you.