Your computer

Nicholas School IT can only fully support computers purchased through our office and configured by our staff. Users who choose to purchase computers on their own should be aware that their computer may not be able to be supported by either Nicholas School IT or the Nicholas network.

Computers for new employees are purchased from the funds of the hiring department. New faculty pay for their computers from their start-up funds. It can take from 2-4 weeks to configure, order and set up a new computer, so bear this in mind when contacting Nicholas School IT.

Primary vendors for desktop and laptop computers are Dell, Apple and Lenovo.

The standard software install for administrative staff and faculty includes Microsoft Office. Other software may require installation discs and licenses provided by the requester. Administrative access to the computer on the Nicholas network can be granted to users who agree to certain terms and conditions.

Your Nicholas School account

Your Duke NetID will be used as your login to the Nicholas network. All new staff and faculty are assigned NetIDs by Duke OIT. The NetID should not to be confused with the UniqueID - a seven digit identifier used for administrative record-keeping at the University. With a NetID, and upon the request of the hiring department, Nicholas School IT will create a Nicholas network account for employees and faculty. Access to shared network directories can also be requested at this time. The user will be contacted by email to stop by the Nicholas IT office to set their account password.

All users on the Nicholas network are provided approximately 10G of personal network storage. This space is backed up regularly and users are encouraged to save their work to this location. They are discouraged from saving music and local email files to the network. Music files are best saved to the hard drive and email can be left on the email server. Faculty can purchase additional network storage for research by contacting Nicholas School IT.

Computer replacement

Nicholas School IT budgets funds to replace desktop computers for administrative staff paid from school funds, and in recognition of the administrative tasks performed by many faculty. Currently, these replacements are made approximately every three years. Computers purchased with these funds revert to Nicholas IT when replaced. Users may choose to accept the standard desktop configuration offered by Nicholas IT or can apply the funds towards another machine of their choosing. Users are responsible for any costs above the budgeted amount and the order must be placed through Nicholas IT to qualify. These computers will also revert to Nicholas IT.