PVCC: Computer Commons

Paradise Valley Community College faculty and staff recognize the value of providing students who take computing and other networking classes with a real life experience in viewing technical facilities. PVCC considers its technical facilities valuable learning environments for students and provides the opportunity for these facilities to be integrated as part of actual class activities.

However, computer and network security are a responsibility and concern of the college staff as well. In our effort to continue to provide these experiences for students and ensure the security of the network and computing facilities, the following procedure for requesting and conducting tours is put forth.

Access to any of PVCC’s Computer Room & Network closets is granted ONLY to authorized personnel. Students, faculty, and staff are considered authorized personnel only after a tour (or access) has been formally approved through this process.
A faculty member must make the tour request on a Technology Request Form (paper or online). Currently, only tours of the Computer Commons telecommunications closets (TC) and the central computer room and network facility (in IRTS) are provided. Tours of the TC in the Computer Commons will be routed through the TRFs to the Net. Techs. Tours of the central computer room and/or network facility will be routed through the IRTS help Desk. The request must state the following:
- Date and time the tour is requested
- Class section and course name
- Number of students to participate
- Expected timeframe of tour.
- A list of specific questions that will be asked is helpful to ensure that the appropriate support person is present to provide answers
  You should receive a response which confirms your selected date and time or suggests an alternate date and time within a week or so.
3. The instructor must be present for all tours and during all parts of the tour. We may also need to schedule additional staff to be present during the tour (1 staff member in CC, 2 in IRTS).
The IRTS tour guide will not discuss information such as server names, the critical roles of servers, and server and switch addressing.
We ask that you inform your students not to touch any equipment, cable, or item in the facilities that they are touring.