June 29 update

The outsource contract was signed yesterday.

I know I should say something more here. But I can't seem to find any words.

Thank you to everyone who signed and shared the petition.

And thank you to Hampshire's IT staff, for all you have done. You deserve so much better than this.

 

The original text of the petition is below:

What's happening?

Hampshire College is preparing to lay off all Information Technology staff and outsource IT to a for-profit company. This decision was made with no input from staff, faculty, students, parents, or alumnx. The consequences for the Hampshire community are potentially catastrophic.

 

The impacts of outsourcing Information Technology

In short, outsourcing IT cuts costs at the expense of quality and community. But costs saved in the short term will still need to be paid later, with interest.

Hampshire's wonderful IT staff are an integral part of the community, and do so much with so little, often far beyond the bounds of their job descriptions. During my time at Hampshire, IT staff frequently taught me things no faculty member could. Losing them would be a devastating blow.

Students, staff, & faculty can expect the quality of IT services, infrastructure, and support to suffer. It's hard to predict exactly what form this will take, but potential examples include:

• More frequent, longer lasting campus internet outages
• Slower, less helpful IT support
• Buggier software

In the worst case, we could see the catastrophic failure of key digital systems, potentially resulting in the loss of archived Div 3s or alumnx transcripts, major disruptions to college operations, and more.

 

Act now

Once an organization outsources IT, it's virtually impossible to reverse course. Luckily, there's still time to act before Hampshire signs a contract.

After you sign this petition and share it with your Hampshire community:

• Please email the Hampshire Board of Trustees (Trustees@Hampshire.edu) and President Ed Wingenbach (President@Hampshire.edu).
• Politely ask them to commit to keep Hampshire IT in-house.