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iPad/Mobile Device Procurement Policy

TBR Policy Reference: 1:08:00:00

Approved by: Allana Hamilton

Original Date Effective: 2013-05-20

Last Modified: 2018-01-16

Purpose

The purpose is to establish guidelines and procedures to facilitate procurement and Office of Information Technology (OIT) support of Apple iPads and Windows mobile devices, This guideline supplements federal and state laws and TBR and college policies.

Procurement

  • An iPad or mobile device may be requested by employees whose official duties are such that the use of the device significantly enhances the performance of the academic (including instruction) and/or business activities of that faculty or staff member,
  • iPads or mobile devices may be requested by faculty for classroom use, Funds should be sought from the annual Technology Access Fee process if applicable,
  • iPads or mobile devices may be requested by faculty or staff, A percentage of the cost for the iPad or mobile device will come from the individual departmental budget
  • Any accessories purchased for the device will come out of the departmental budget
  • All requests must be accompanied by clear justification of academic/business purpose,
  • Approval of an iPad or mobile device purchase will be based on a case-by-case basis,
  • Devices purchased by the college will be considered a college asset and tagged and inventoried like desktop and laptop computers,
  • The college will not pay for any cellular voice/data plans associated with iPads or mobile devices,
  • Application (app) purchases may be made by the individual or via the TBR contract that allowsthe college to participate in Apple's Volume Voucher Purchase Program (WPP),
  • The OIT director or their designee will purchase Apple Voucher cards and redeem them on the Apple website, Apps will be purchased and the resulting link and code will be emailed to the person that the app was purchased for, OIT will track who received the purchased apps, The OIT director will be responsible for bringing any questionable purchase to the attention of the Vice President for Finance and Administration to determine if the app purchase is to be approved, Otherwise, the OIT director or their designee will purchase apps on the behalf of employees that have college provided iPads,
  • The iPad user will be responsible for any charges related to the acquisition of personally purchased applications, The college will not reimburse the cost of these apps, Also, taxes may be charged on those personal purchased apps, There is no educational discount for apps purchased by an individual. Payment problems and disputes about individual apps purchased by the user are the responsibility of the user.
  • Please note that Apple requires that the owner of devices and installer of apps to agree to sync no more copies than the number of voucher codes purchased by the WPP; one cannot make a single purchase and sync to multiple devices unless an authorized license has been procured for each device. WPP pricing generally reflects an educational discount and no sales tax will be charged when apps are bought via the WPP. Not all apps are available for purchase by the WPP. Not all apps have a discounted price. WPP may require the purchase of 20 or more copies in order to get a discounted price.
  • Purchased iPads or mobile devices should be delivered to OIT first for processing.
  • College purchased iPads will be engraved with 'property of Jackson State Community College; this is a service by Apple when purchasing the device.
  • If an iPad or mobile device is lost or stolen the department will be responsible for a percentage of the cost for replacement.
  • If the iPad or mobile device is dropped and broken the department will be responsible for any fees related to fixing the device.
  • After three years if the device is not functioning properly the item can be up for replacement. The college will pay 75% of a fixed amount for the device and the department must pay the remaining 25% plus any accessories for the device.

Support

  • iPads or mobile devices are not substitutes for more versatile laptop computers, and should not be purchased as such.
  • Support for the basic use of the devices and their apps will be provided by OIT. Support for use of the devices and apps in classroom instruction will be provided by Distance Learning.
  • OIT will not be able to perform repairs on iPads. They have no serviceable parts. Therefore, if something goes wrong with the device, OIT technicians can only attempt two possible fixes: a hard rebooting of the device or a complete restore of the operating system (OS). Problems not resolved by these fixes will require the iPad to be serviced by Apple. This will cause a delay in availability of the iPad for the user.
  • Any college purchase of an iPad will include a three-year AppleCare support contract.
  • Only Apple iPad accessories will be supported by OIT staff.
  • "Jail breaking" (using software unauthorized by Apple) of the iPad is not supported by the college. OIT technicians will not support any device that has been modified in this manner. This practice will void the warranty and AppleCare contract for the device.
  • iPad files are stored in a format that is not recoverable by OIT technicians. If an iPad has a hardware failure, the only possibility of recovering any document is if a backup file stored by iTunes during the last iPad/computer synchronization is available. If one has not recently synchronized the iPad with their computer, any recent changes will be lost.
  • Compatibility between programs cannot be guaranteed. For example, there is no guarantee that a document created in Microsoft (MS) Excel, on a PC or Mac computer, will be editable or completely viewable in the equivalent iPad Numbers application. The same applies to MS Word and Pages or Keynote/MS PowerPoint software.
  • Due to security issues and desire to maintain a stable and secure infrastructure, OIT reserves the right to deploy security policies and certain requirements to iPads and mobile devices.
  • Printing is currently not supported with the iPad.
  • Certain web sites may not display in whole or in part if they use software required to run in the background. For example, certain Java sites, Oracle, Flash, ActiveX control, etc ... will not function on the iPad.
  • Video output with the use of an external adapter connected to a projector has limited support on the iPad. (The adapter is an additional purchase) Not all software can be viewed via the output option. A program must specifically be programmed to take advantage of the video option. The default iPad OS cannot be displayed via this option. A supporting application must be launched first in order to view the iPad OS. A program such as Keynote is designed to allow video output. Some programs, such as Safari, do not allow video output. Movies purchased via iTunes are designed as protected content and therefore cannot be viewed via the video output option. Output resolution is limited to 1024 x 768.
  • The synchronization computer should be a college provided desktop or laptop computer. This assures college data remains on college equipment. Synchronization Computer Requirements:\
    • Mac Computer Requirements:
      Mac computer with USB 2.0 port
      Mac OS X v10.5.8 or later
      iTunes 12 or later
      iTunes account
      Internet access
    • Windows Computer Requirements:
      PC with USB 2.0 port
      Windows 1 O; or Windows 7 Home or Pro
      iTunes 12 or later
      iTunes account
      Internet access

Justification

The following criteria will be considered by the approver when reviewing requested device(s)

  • Does the employee's responsibility include reading, reviewing, or commenting on large volumes of documents? If so, is the employee willing to perform these duties in a paperless format?
  • Will the use of the device significantly enhance the productivity of the employee?
  • Will the academic and business activities of the employee be enhanced with the device?

Assignment of Device

Once approval is granted the individual faculty or staff member is required to attend training on how to use the device and security issues before it is assigned or given to the employee. The training will be conducted by Distance Education and cover using the device in the technology environment on campus as well as those commonly found off campus.