Data Center Access Policy  

Purpose 

 To outline who faculty and staff who are not in Information Technology Services (ITS). 

Scope 

 This policy covers everyone at the university who is not an ITS employee. 

Policy 

On-demand access 

ITS strongly recommends that anyone requiring access to the data center request access through ITS.  Access should be requested at least 2 business days in advance and ITS will work to determine a time that works for both parties.  Requested times that fall within normal business hours will be accommodated more quickly than requests which fall outside of business hours.  Requests for times outside of business hours may take several weeks to accommodate.  If the individual requesting access is not a Wesleyan employee they will be accompanied by an employee from either Information Technology Services or Physical Plant. 

Remote console access 

ITS uses remote console access hardware to provide remote console access when it is needed.  Anyone who requires access to systems in the data center and cannot follow the on-demand access process is strongly encouraged to use remote console access.  ITS will assist in configuring remote console access if needed. 

Physical access 

If both on-demand access and remote console access are not sufficient, physical access can be provided to an individual.  Obtaining that access requires the following: 

• Approval from the Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer 

• If a faculty member, approval from the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs 

• If an employee, approval from the Associate Vice President for Human Resources 

• Written acknowledgement from the individual receiving the access that 
  • They are not allowed to interact with any hardware in the data center that is not their hardware 
  • They are responsible for any outages that they cause, whether intentional or not 
  • They will not provide data center access to anyone else without written approval from ITS 

Access will be reviewed on an annual basis by the Associate Vice President for Information Technology and the Chief Information Security Officer to confirm it is still needed. 

Exceptions 

All exceptions to this policy require written approval from the Chief Information Security Officer.  All exceptions require annual renewal. 

Appendix 

Approval History 

August 2024 – Policy adopted