Network & Devices polices

  Purpose Virtual Private Network (VPN) service at Williams College is managed and provided by Williams Office for Information Technology (OIT) for members of the college community, service providers, and registered guests who require remote and secure access to Williams computing services when at home or traveling. In… Continue reading »

To help protect our students and the college network, we by default block a small number of peer-to-peer sharing programs like bittorrent which our firewall system has deemed high-risk.  However we do realize that there are legitimate reasons to use torrent software and any student who… Continue reading »

OIT now maintains the college “copier” budget. Please do not use your own department funds to buy any copiers or multi-function devices. If you need a multi-function device, or need to upgrade an existing copier, contact OIT by emailing [email protected]. Continue reading »

OIT will no longer keep every single data jack on campus active. This policy has already been in effect in all student housing and has had no impact on our students.  We anticipate the same result for faculty and staff. Why are we doing this? Currently we maintain over 800… Continue reading »

OIT will NOT whitelist any domain to bypass the spam protection of our spam filtering appliance.  See SPAM Filtering and Why OIT does NOT whitelist a domain. Continue reading »

OIT will provide networked, post-script-capable, laser printers for workgroups. Printers will be located such that there is a workgroup printer convenient to all college employees who make use of printing. See the full policy for exceptions and support issues. Continue reading »

As part of our ongoing effort to keep up with recent innovation, the College will now allow the purchase of tablets (e.g. iPad or Androids), e-readers (e.g. Kindle or Nook) and laptops, so long as their use is primarily for academic, research, or business purposes. This does not include cell / smart phones (which is covered under a different policy). Also, because the College provides extensive wi-fi coverage, the College ordinarily will not cover the cost of a cellular data plan for any device. Continue reading »