Computer Administrative Privileges Request Process

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Last updated: Oct 25, 2023 by Idalia Torres
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The Information Technology Services (ITS) department is committed to providing members of the SUNY Fredonia community with reliable, secure, and user-friendly technology in stable operating condition. In an effort to appropriately address the needs of the faculty and staff, ITS provides local computer administrator privileges for individual university owned computers in accordance with regulatory compliance. To gain this privilege, send a request to the ITS department.

NOTE: An approved Computer Administrative Privileges Request Form is valid for 2 years from the date of approval by the Information Security Officer or designee. Requestors will need to renew their privileges by completing this form again if they wish to maintain their access. 

Levels of Access

There are two security access levels to a Fredonia owned computers:

• User - Allows a great deal of powers to perform normal daily computing functions. The user access level will generally assure the highest level of stability for your computer.

• Administrator - Allows the computer operator to have complete and unrestricted access level rights on their individual workstations. This includes the ability to install any hardware or software, edit the registry, manage the default access accounts, and change file level permissions.

Risks & Assumptions

The assumption of local computer administrative privileges on a Fredonia computer carries certain inherent responsibilities. Care must be taken due to potential threat of compromise and compliance with Federal, NYS, and SUNY regulations.

  • Data Security - Fredonia computer users who are granted administrative privileges should be aware of the risks in using an account with admin privileges. The privilege makes the user computing environment extremely susceptible to spyware, viruses and potentially damaging security breaches.
  • Regulatory Compliance - Fredonia is bound by Federal, New York State (NYS), and State University of New York regulations to protect our sensitive data (Category II & III data) from unauthorized use. Regulations include but are not limited to (FERPA, HIPAA, GLBA, NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171, SUNY Procedures 6900 etc.).
  • Software Licensing & Copyright Laws - Fredonia computer users who are granted administrative privileges should be aware of copyright restrictions and licenses placed on ALL software installed on their systems. They should also be aware that there exists severe criminal and civil penalties for noncompliance. University computer users do not have the authorization to agree to any software terms and conditions (e.g. End User License Agreements) on behalf of the University. Agreeing to End User License Agreements while installing software on university owned computers may subject the institution to laws of foreign countries and or states other than New York.

Requesting Computer Administrative Privileges

By default all members of the University community using NYS owned computers are granted "User" access level on their individual workstations. ITS provides local computer administrator access on an as requested basis only for Fredonia employees on individual computers based on a valid business case.

Step 1: Employee completes the online Computer Administrative Privilege Request which, after submission, will create a Tracker ticket with the employee as the reporter and assigned to the ISO office.

Step 2: The ISO will evaluate and approve or deny the request.

Step 3: If the request is approved, the ISO will assign the Computer Administrative Privileges Overview training course to the requesting employee. Once the requesting employee has successfully completed the course, the user will be granted administrative privileges in the requested computer. The user will then be notified of the outcome of their request via resolution of the Tracker ticket.

Please contact the ITS Service Center (673-3407) should you need any assistance.