About the PLA
Offering employees the ability to use laptops as their primary computer prompted the need for a more automated and streamlined request and approval process for annual or long-term device checkout. The new Dynamic Form version of the PLA was developed* in collaboration with several campus departments to replace the paper form.
Why is there a new form?
The spring/summer of 2020 introduced many new technology challenges. One of the most prominent was the need to provide devices to employees for off-site use. The demand for mobile devices was rapid, and fundamental stewardship principles were sometimes overlooked. The PLA is a district requirement to remove an asset for extended use from any MCCCD facility.
After the initial surge of urgent laptop checkouts subsided, the administration asked OIT (and the business office) to change our purchasing strategy and work on the premise that employees will need to be more agile in the future. The result is a broad-scale distribution of laptops assigned to departments and employees to enable the ability to service our students regardless of location. One of the critical parts of this project is the property accounting and approval process. As some of you may have experienced with the recent employee and student checkouts, moving this amount of paper, signing, collecting, and scanning is time-consuming and frustrating. The new form was requested to automate the approval and signature process and include a small workflow that will help each area involved to know where in the process a request is.
Basics of the form
The purpose behind the design is a simple, electronic way to manage signatures and approve off-site technology use. There is no intent to replace other workflows or work ticket processes. The new design (v1) considers the future use of the form and gets our areas through the current project. One of the features is that the workflow will follow one of two paths, where the decision point is if there is a current inventory available or if a purchase is required.
PLA Work Flow
Nov. ’20 email to deans/chairs – this document is subject to change
Employees may not submit a laptop request for themselves. Please communicate with the appropriate department chair, dean, or director.
*There is a district initiative to create an electronic PLA for all campuses. GCC’s new form will be one of many submitted for consideration or inclusion into that outcome.