General Lab Policies

User Accounts

You will need to obtain a computer account in order to use the SCS computing labs. Sharing of accounts is strictly prohibited. Further, it is your responsibility not to share your account or your password with any other student. The School of Computer Science reserves the right to revoke account access if account usage is not consistent with the guidelines stated in this document.

Equipment and Resources

You are welcome to use any of the workstations in the labs. We primarily support Windows 2000 and Redhat Linux operating systems on the desktops. Equipment includes Pentium III class computers with 17" color monitors. Applications on the workstations generally include MS Office, MS Visual Studio, Internet Explorer, Netscape, LViewPro, an ftp tool, and a telnet application. If you require more complete specifications, please send an email to request@cs.fiu.edu.

Locked Workstations

For your convenience, you may lock a workstation for a maximum of 15 minutes. If a workstation is abandoned or locked for longer than 15 minutes, a member of the JCCL Lab Staff will unlock the workstation so that other students can use the resource. Please note that any unsaved data would be lost.

Printer Usage

To assist you with your coursework, a printer has been allocated to each Lab. We welcome you to print documents, as they are needed for your coursework. However, abuse of printing privileges is not tolerated. We ask that you please refrain from printing large documents that are not course related, to avoid printing documents that can easily be viewed online and to adhere to copyright laws. If you have detailed questions about what is acceptable to print, please ask a Lab Staff member or drop an email to request.

User Data Information

Each user has space on networked servers for storage of coursework related material. On NT machines, this network resource is automatically mapped as U:\. On Unix machines this is your "home" directory. Data in these directories is automatically and regularly backed up and archived for a two-week period. Please remember that the user is responsible to safeguard their data. It is highly recommended that you backup frequently to removable media, such as a zip disk.

Appropriate Use of Resources

Remember that these labs are provided so that students will have easy access to resources to complete coursework-related assignments. Gratuitous surfing is discouraged. Games and hacking and software installations by students are strictly prohibited. Abuse of usage policies could result in the revocation of your account.

If you require an application so that you can complete your coursework, please send email to request so that we can assess your need and identify solutions. Please be sure to include information about the application you require and as well as the course and instructor.

Rules of the House

To keep the labs running smoothly, the equipment running well, and the environment pleasant for all users, there are a few "rules of the house":

• No Eating or drinking in the lab.
• Don't leave your valuables unattended.
• Keep lab doors locked. Do not prop doors open.
• Report problems with the lab when they arise.
• Be courteous to your fellow students by keeping phones and pagers silenced.