Data Service Per-NetID Charge
Frequently Asked Questions
Effective September 1999, the University implemented a new charging policy to support maintenance
and development of the institutional data network. Under this policy, a charge is assessed to faculty, staff, and student
NetIDs each month and passed to school and VP areas. Each school and VP area may determine its own implementation
plan for funding the charge (i.e., which accounts(s), at what level, will bear the charge), with the exception that
sponsored accounts may not be charged under any circumstance. A new expense object, 6935, has been created and
will be used exclusively to capture the data services charge.
What follows are answers to the most common questions about this policy and process.
Questions that you might have specific to your own particular NetID or department-level
funding should be directed to your dean or VP as implementation plans vary across the University. Neither
NU Information Technology, nor the NU Budget Office are able to answer questions about local cost
assignment determinations.
- Why has this charge been instituted?
There are two principal reasons for implementing a data services charge:
- Improved management of the capital investment and operating costs
associated with the technology infrastructure. To date, Central
Administration has supported the backbone network and associated
data services through non-recurring budget allocations. Now that
the University is beyond the start-up phase of this technology,
it is important to structure these expenses within the recurring
budget. Implementing a data services charge that comprises both
the capital and operating cost components creates a mechanism for
recurring funding. In addition, the new data services charge informs
users about the true cost of the network.
- Convergence of voice and data technology in the near future. In
the next three to five years, the two distinct networks for voice
and data are expected to merge into one technology. A single "pipeline"
will carry voice, data, video, and multimedia traffic, "packetized"
into digital signals and received in a single device (an integrated
computer and telephone) that handles voice calls, database access,
videoconferencing, Web access, e-mail, faxes, and so on. Implementation
of a data service charge prepares the University for the anticipated
convergence.
- How are units expected to fund this new charge?
Concurrent with the introduction of the data services charge, voice
services pricing has decreased. The current price list is available
on the IT services site. In some areas, the budgetary savings from
lower voice rates will be sufficient to offset the new data charges.
In areas where the new data charges exceed savings on voice services,
the Budget Office is working with each area to create an area-specific
funding plan based upon the dollar impact and the area's ability to
absorb it. For many units, the recently approved increase to the endowment
pay-out rate alone will be sufficient to cover the new data charges.
- How is the charge computed?
The per-NetID charge is computed annually prior to the start of the
fiscal year. The total operating costs and capital costs (in the form
of depreciation) for the University data network are divided by the
average total number of NetIDs for faculty, staff, and students. This
yields a per-NetID charge for operating and improving the University
network that coming fiscal year.
- What is the current NetID charge?
The current NetID charge may be found on the IT
services site.
- How is the charge applied?
In most cases, the charge is applied at the school and VP area level.
At the end of each month, Information Technologies takes a census of
the NetIDs. All NetIDs are then classified as either chargeable or exempt
from charge. The NetIDs are associated with school and VP areas based
upon data obtained from the Human Resources and University Registrar
databases. Finally, the individual NetID charges are accumulated into
totals for each school or VP area. There is no proration of partial
month charges.
- Which NetIDs are charged and which are not?
As a rule, only active NetIDs are charged. A NetID is active if it has
a current password. For information on who may have a NetID, please
see the NUIT
Services Page.
Rental NetIDs are billed to the department on a monthly basis. The
monthly charge is the same as that for an individual NetID; please
see the NUIT
Rates List for the current monthly NetID charge.
NetIDs requested for early staff and faculty may be sent in three
ways:
- Via online application at
http://www.tss.northwestern.edu/netid-request.
- Via e-mail from a dean, director, or department chair to email-accounts@northwestern.edu.
- Via a written request from a dean, director, or department chair
to: Email Accounts, Technology Support Services, Kresge Hall
56, Evanston Campus.
The NetID will be billed to the appropriate school or department
CUFS account.
There are a few exceptions.
- Inactive NetIDs that are charged include:
- Inactive faculty/staff NetIDs are charged when the unit has
a local e-mail server. The data service charge is for network
use - not for a particular central server use. A local e-mail
server is assumed to be creating network use for all faculty
and staff of the unit.
- Active NetIDs that are not charged include:
- NetIDs flagged as "Organization" or "Ph Only" that are used
for department business purposes. These types of NetIDs must
be requested by a unit and manually created by Information Technology.
- NetIDs of most entering students that are specially managed
by school administrators before the student has arrived on campus.
These are converted to chargeable student NetIDs when the student
registers for a course. (Note: This applies during June, July,
August, and September.)
- NetIDs of faculty, staff, and students who are no longer known
within the University and that are in various stages of notification,
deactivation, and deletion.
- How are the NetIDs of student employees charged?
If a student is also a regular employee of the University, then he or
she is handled as a staff member and the NetID is charged based upon
the Human Resources data. In all other cases, the student NetID is charged
to the school as defined by Registrar data.
- How can I get a list of the NetIDs that are charged to my
unit?
When the monthly census of NetIDs is captured and charges are assessed,
a complete detail list of active and inactive NetIDs for each school
or VP area is compiled and made available to the dean's or VP office.
Please contact the appropriate office for your unit to obtain the detail
list for your unit.
- If the list of NetIDs for my unit contains errors, how do
I correct them?
There are several situations that could lead to seemingly incorrect
charges:
- The person named as the owner of the NetID has left the University.
There are two cases:
- The person just recently left the University. Faculty and
staff NetIDs are chargeable for two weeks after the person disappears
from the Human Resources data feed. If the NetID census is taken
during that period, then the person's NetID will appear as charged.
After the two-week period is passed, the NetID will continue
to appear on the list associated with the unit, but it will
not be charged. The NetID will be removed from the unit's list
when the NetID is automatically deleted by the IT systems.
- The person has been gone for some time. The NetID in question
may have been manually extended at the request of the department.
If the person in question was conducting special business for
the department and his or her e-mail address must be kept active
to receive e-mail, then the NetID remains chargeable. This arrangement
can only result from a special request to extend the NetID.
- The person named is in another unit so that the charge is misplaced.
As described above, the assignment of faculty and staff to particular
units is through the Human Resources database. If a person is not
listed in the correct unit, then the school or VP area must direct
Human Resources to change the association information in the database
so that the next NetID charging cycle will be corrected. Once a
charge is assessed, it is the responsibility of the school or VP
area to issue the paperwork (RAC) to move a charge between CUFS
accounts.
If you discover problems that are not listed above, please send the
NetID and your description of the error to *email-accounts@northwestern.edu*.
- How can I close a NetID so that it is no longer charged?
Information Technology provides a function on the Manage
Your NetID page that allows a NetID owner to deactivate his or her
own NetID. This is the only means generally available to close a NetID
so that it will not be charged. This self-deactivation does not allow
for e-mail redirection or forwarding. Effectively, the NetID is returned
to the state it was in before being initially activated. Note that for
departments with local e-mail services, this self-deactivation will not
affect the charging for the NetID because all faculty and staff NetIDs
in such departments are charged regardless of their active or inactive
status (see above: "Which NetIDs are charged and which
are not?").
- Whom may I contact for more information on how this charge
will be handled for my unit?
Talk first to your department chairperson and department business administrator.
If there is uncertainty at that level, then your department should contact
your dean or VP office. The schools and VP offices make their own determinations
as to how they will fund this charge. However, sponsored accounts may
not be charged under any circumstances.
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