Page one (Issue
index)
Next pageThe Retirees' Newsletter
The Retirees's Association ( Faculty, Librarian, Administrator), University of Windsor, Windsor, Ont. Canada
Vol VIII, No. 3, June 1998
Association News
How do I pay for my charges?
You can pay for your charges through the Cashiers' Office on the first floor of Chrysler Hall North. They will issue you a special receipt indicating that this is a payment for your userid and dial-up charges. Bring this receipt to Computing Services and we will activate your userid or adjust your expiry date accordingly. You can also mail your cheque to the Cashiers' Office (c/o University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Ave. Windsor, Ont. N9B 3P4). Please include your userid and indicate that your cheque is meant to cover userid and dial-up charges; request Cashiers' to forward your receipt with your name and userid to Computing Services HelpDesk.
What happens if I use over 50 dial-up hours?
If you use over 50 hours of dial-up in a month, you will incur charges. It is best that you clear up these charges throughout the year via the Cashiers' Office as indicated above. If you choose not to, Computing Services may adjust your expiry date by one month for every $10 charge. If you have any outstanding charges at the time of your expiry date, you will have to pay them before your userid can be renewed.
General Information
How Can I Tell How many Hours of Dial-up I am Using?
Eventually, you will be able to access a Web page and view the length of time you spent on each log-on session as well as your monthly summaries. Until this is available, there will be a listing at the HelpDesk of your month-to-date usage as of the previous Monday. If you e-mail, phone or visit the HelpDesk, the staff will provide you with this information. Currently, they have the monthly summaries since January available. Again, most of you use less than 50 hours per month (88%) and so you need not worry. Computing Services will be directly contacting high volume users.
What are Comparative Rates?
I) Other Ontario Universities
Most other Ontario universities charge for dial-up services. Those universities that do charge have hourly rates that vary from $0.50 to $1.00 per hour or monthly rates such as $6 for 5 hours, $10/month for 20 hours. Those that do not charge tend to have rudimentary services. In comparison, the University of Windsor's current practices appear to be in the most liberal group, offering extensive Internet services which, up to now, have been at no cost to our non-student clients.
ii) Student Dial-up Service
The University's student dial-up service charge recovers the initial capital and ongoing costs through usage charges. The student charging scheme has been in place for about two years. The current rate for the student dial-up service is $0.50 per hour from midnight until 6 p.m. and $0.60 per hour from 6 p.m. until midnight.
iii) Local ISPs
From a sampling of local Internet Service Providers (ISPs), we found their rates to be quite similar to each other. Typical rates are $10 per month for a limited number of hours ranging from 5 to 15 hours and $25 per month for unlimited usage. Many companies charge for the access software.
Any Other Questions?
If you have any concerns or would like further information, please contact one of the staff listed as follows:
Raj Patil ext. 2741 or RAJ@uwindsor.ca
Linda Menard-Watt ext. 2757 or LMW@uwindsor.ca
Jaya Sreedharan ext. 2743 or JAYA@uwindsor.ca
President Kumar Writes to Ms Linda Menard-Watt
Ms Linda Menard-Watt June 16, 1998
Interim Director
Information Systems & Client Services
Subject: Charging Policy for Computer User I.Ds and Dial-Up Services
Dear Linda,
Subsequent to our meeting a few days ago and your recent conversation with Datta Pillay I had further consultation with several retirees and some members of the Retirees Association Executive. I note a reluctance to pay for USER ID for the following reasons.
1. Retirees have served the University for 30-35 years and it is only fair to treat them as Faculty members and provide with a USER-ID and 50 hours of Dial-Up Service free of charge.
2. At present, out of 250 retirees ( as of July 1, 1998) only 82 people or a third of all retirees have a USER ID and use the Dial-Up service for email and other services, which as you indicated is much less than 50 hours per month.
3. The proposed cost of $ 6 per month per USER ID will generate $ 4,800, which is a very small sum of money - less than 0.005% of the University budget hardly worth the administrative expense to collect $ 5000.
4. If it becomes a University Policy to charge all Active Faculty, Staff, Students and others a $ 10 fee per month for use between 50 hours and 100 hours of Dial-up services then the Retirees Association has no objection to follow suit, with an additional $ 10 fee per month for use beyond 100 hours of Dial-up services.
Please note that we have an Informal Joint Committee of the Retirees' Association and the University Administration (including the Vice-Presidents, Academic, Finance & Services, Director of Human Resources and others), which meets once a year to discuss matters of facilities and services provided to Retirees. I suggest that we deal with this matter in that Committee and then proceed further.
Thank you for your consideration and assistance
Sincerely,
Kumar Chatterjee
President
Copies:
Dr. Ross Paul
Dr. W.E. Jones
Mr. Eric Harbottle
Mr. Jim Butler