Campus Evergreen Program
The Campus Evergreen Program helps ensure university staff and faculty always have the most current laptop or desktop computer. Under the program, new staff are provided a computer during their onboarding. For existing staff, your laptop or desktop is eligible for a refresh every five years.
Everything to Know About the Program
All your questions answered about the Campus Evergreen Program. See Campus Evergreen Q&A »
How the Program Works
IST collaborates with business areas, faculties and departments across our campuses every year to determine which devices are up for evergreen. We work with each unit’s assigned Evergreen Coordinator, who help facilitate the process, which includes:
- Determining who will be up for evergreen
- Consulting with clients on their device needs
- Selection of the new device and obtaining appropriate approvals (if necessary)
- Scheduling evergreening appointments
- Delivery, staging and setup of new devices
- Removal of your old device
The replacement of your computer is intended to cause the least disturbance to your regular workflow as possible. When your faculty/department is up for evergreen, IST will work with your Evergreen Coordinator to determine what devices are being replaced. The program operates on a 5 year cycle, meaning staff should expect a replacement every 5 years. We aim to replace 20% of a department’s inventory every year. By 2028, we will have replaced almost 30,000 endpoint computing devices across campus with up to date, modern computers.
If you have been selected for an evergreen replacement you will receive a communication asking you to select your device, and once it arrives, you will be asked to schedule an appointment with one of our analysts.
To find out if your device is eligible for the Evergreen Program, please contact your Evergreen Coordinator.
Evergreen Workstation Offerings
Your department has pre-paid for staff eligible to be in the program to receive a Standard Evergreen Deployment package. The details of what these packages include can be found below. These configurations were designed to meet the needs of administrative staff at the University of Alberta. If these configurations don’t meet your needs, you may select a device from the device list on the IST Workstation Offering web page.
Please be advised that selections made from the Workstation Offerings page
- Are subject to approval by your Evergreen Coordinator, supervisor or department lead, and IST
- Will incur an additional cost that must be paid via speed code by an individual or department
- Will have a 3+ week delay as these devices are ordered as-requested and are subject to lead times from our vendors
Standard Evergreen Deployment
Suggested use for roles such as: Instructors, administration, payroll, HR, finance
Dell Latitude Laptop
- Intel Corei5 Processor
- 16GB of Memory (RAM)
- 256GB Solid State Hard Drive (Storage)
- 1x 24” Monitor with built in docking solution
- Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
- 5 Years of Dell Pro Support (Next Business Day On Site Warranty)
Dell OptiPlex Desktop
- Intel Corei5 Processor
- 16GB of Memory (RAM)
- 256GB Solid State Hard Drive (Storage)
- 1x 24” Monitor
- Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
- Dedicated Webcam
- 5 Years of Dell Pro Support (Next Business Day On Site Warranty)
What Should I Know About My Evergreening Appointment?
Have you been contacted about device evergreening this year?
If so, you will be asked to fill out the End User Deployment Form. Once submitted, a link will be provided so that you may schedule your appointment to swap out your device.
If you require any assistance with these steps ahead of your appointment, please contact the IT Service Desk and a support analyst will connect with you to help prepare your device.
- All evergreen appointments take place on campus; we do not ship or deploy to clients’ homes. If you require space to meet for your evergreen appointment, please ensure you’ve arranged that with your supervisor or Evergreen Coordinator.
- Your old computer will be removed as part of this appointment, so please ensure you have removed or transferred any pertinent data from the device ahead of time. There are no exceptions to this process; if you have concerns about the removal of your old device please contact your supervisor or Evergreen Coordinator before your scheduled appointment.
IST is replacing approximately 1,200 administrative computers on campus each year through this program. Working with clients, departments and Evergreen Coordinators is a massive collaborative effort that is only successful when we all work together. We appreciate your patience and time as we work to provide you with managed, fully supported endpoint devices for your day to day computing needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Process
IST has hired Microserve to assist with completing all the Campus Evergreen Program deployments. They will set up and help facilitate the exchange of your old and new hardware.
When it is time for your evergreen, Microserve will reach out to you to make an appointment and inform you of what to expect.
Contact Microserve’s Deployment Coordinator directly for appointment issues.
If you have any data stored locally on the computer (i.e. not on a network drive, personal drive, or Google Drive), we recommend moving that data to another location like a department network drive or Google Drive. If space in those locations is inadequate, an external hard drive is recommended. Backing up your data before the appointment will help speed up the process and prevent any loss of data during the exchange.
While we would prefer not to defer an evergreen, we understand circumstances may require a deferral. Please contact your Evergreen Coordinator if you wish to defer and we will work together to determine the best option forward.
Keeping aged equipment in the environment adds challenges and complexities to the security of university data and the support of computing equipment on campus. Reducing technical debt and aged administrative equipment is one part of the standardization goals of the Campus Evergreen Program.
For example, security update support for Windows 10 will end in October of 2025. Devices purchased prior to 2018 do not meet the hardware requirements Microsoft imposes to move to Windows 11. In addition, manufacturers will move to no longer provide security updates for hardware through firmware or drivers on aged devices. For these reasons IST securely and sustainably disposes of all aged equipment as it is replaced through the Campus Evergreen Program as part of the lifecycle management of these devices.
Submit a request for a new staff member’s IT onboarding. This request form will allow you to submit a request for a new computer, computer login account and network drive and printer access if required.
Ensure that it is noted in the ticket that the device will be part of the Evergreen program and that Evergreen Coordinator/Faculty General Manager/Director approval is included. If a Standard Evergreen is selected, there will be no upfront cost to the unit. Selections from the Workstation Offerings page will require a speed code. If a request is not part of the Campus Evergreen Program, a speed code will be required.
Please contact your Evergreen Coordinator.
Your Faculty/Unit Evergreen Coordinator will:
- Act as the faculty/unit’s point of contact and assist in answering any general questions regarding the program
- Work with the key department contacts to send out communications regarding their faculty/unit’s evergreens
- Collaborate with IST to verify users for yearly evergreen, help manage department inventory and assist with deployment coordination
When a staff member leaves their position it is up to the unit to “cascade” the device, either to the next person coming into the role or to another person in the department.
If the device is over 5 years old, it should be slated for surplus and a “net new” deployment can be completed for the next incoming staff member. When submitting a New Employee IT Onboarding request, identify in the fields if you require new hardware or are cascading an existing device. Requests for surplus of old equipment can be made here; please include what is being disposed of and where it is located.
An early evergreen is when a device is replaced before the faculty/unit’s scheduled evergreen. IST would evergreen that device and count it towards the group’s 20% for that fiscal year.
For example, if a device breaks before it is due for evergreen and is not able to be fixed, it can be early evergreened.
No, all deployments will be on campus at your desk or office.
Equipment
If a standard endpoint does not meet the unique requirements of a user, another device can be purchased from IST’s Workstation Offerings website.
Purchase of a non-standard device will require supervisor approval and the additional costs will need to be covered by the business area. Please note that IST has final approval on what devices are available for deployment within the Campus Evergreen Program.
The University of Alberta will not provide access to local administrator accounts on university-managed, administrative endpoints. If there is a need to elevate privileges to install/update an application or make a system change we request that a ticket be created via the Shared Services IT Portal or by calling 780-492-8000.
Yes. If your device is stand alone and not connected to a domain, it will be added to the appropriate domain for your area in order for IST to better manage your device. If your existing device is already on a domain, your new device will be placed on the same domain for a seamless experience.
Yes, IST provides a wireless keyboard and mouse with all evergreen deployments. If you require an ergonomic or specific keyboard and mouse, please advise us during the device consultation process. Any additional costs for this change will require a speed code.
Your new monitor acts as the docking station and has multiple ports to allow for peripherals to be plugged in.
Webcams will be provided with desktops. If you receive a new laptop, webcams will not be replaced as it will have a built-in camera.
The majority of departments have only provided enough funding to replace one monitor as part of the evergreen deployment. Provided one of your older, existing monitors can support connecting to your new device via the new docking monitor or desktop computer, we will attempt to connect it as part of the deployment so that you can maintain dual monitor functionality.
If your old monitors do not support this connection, then a second monitor will need to be purchased via speed code. You can review the models available on the Workstation Offerings website.
We will reconnect any existing peripherals to the new device. If any are not compatible with the new device, then it is up to you or the department to purchase ones that are compatible.
Evergreening Support and Issues
You can contact IST anytime after your appointment for support. However, IST will only hold your old device for two weeks in case there are issues with your new device. After those two weeks, the old device will be sent to surplus.
If issues occur with the device, submit a general request for assistance. Please ensure that you include details about your device evergreening when submitting your ticket.
Submit a general request for assistance. Please ensure that you include details about your device evergreening when submitting your ticket.