ACADEMIC COMPUTER LABS – GENERAL USAGE POLICY
The Engineering Information Center (EIC) at Florida International University maintains computer labs for use by students enrolled in classes at the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC). Students taking CEC courses may use an account (described below) to use the lab. EIC establishes these policies to provide a secure, consistent and effective learning environment while ensuring that CEC resources are used appropriately. This policy document applies only to the labs maintained by the EIC and all users of said facilities. Please note that this document is subject to change and will be reviewed and updated from time to time. Failure to abide by these policies may result in the loss of computing privileges or possible disciplinary action. The EIC academic computer labs are staffed and managed directly by the Engineering Information Center. Technical Support Staff are hired by the college to assist students in the labs with account and system issues. Staff can be found in EC2805 from 8 AM to 6 PM. Lab users can obtain technical support or pose a general question by submitting a ticket on the EIC help desk. Steven Luis (Steven.Luis@fiu.edu) and Alberto Oria (Alberto.Oria@fiu.edu) oversee all operations of the EIC academic computer labs and are responsible for the staffing and maintenance of the labs.
ACCESS
The EIC academic computer labs are open Monday to Friday from 7AM to 6:30PM and are closed for national holidays, other FIU important dates (such as winter and summer breaks), and may be closed for special maintenance or cleaning. However, EIC offers two labs which are accessible 24/7, including holidays – EC-2807 and EC-3278.
OBTAINING ACCOUNTS
Each semester, students have issued accounts in the EIC computer labs based on course enrollment. Students receive an account automatically at the beginning of each term if they are enrolled in a CEC course, which is eligible to use our labs. Students who are not enrolled in at least one engineering course will have their computer accounts disabled.
A student who is “auditing” a course, finishing work to satisfy an incomplete or is working on a project that is not related to a specific course can have an account enabled in the labs with the approval and by request of their sponsoring faculty. The sponsoring faculty will need to request the account on behalf of the student by submitting a ticket on our EIC help desk.
CEC faculty can have accounts enabled in any EIC lab on request. In many cases, accounts are pre-existent. Please contact Technical Support if you require assistance in gaining access to a EIC computer lab.
NOTE: Accounts generally require 24-48 hours to be created. Please allow sufficient time for us to process your request.
ACCOUNT SHARING
Accounts in the CEC environment are assigned to individuals for the purposes of completing coursework, instruction or support of CEC. THE SHARING OF CEC COMPUTER ACCOUNTS IS PROHIBITED. Further, it is your responsibility not to share your account or your password with any other student. The lab reserves the right to revoke account access if account use is not consistent with the guidelines stated in this document.
LOGGING OFF
All computer lab users must log off after they have finished their computer sessions. This is to protect your account and our system from mischievous users. Workstations that run Windows are configured to automatically log out users after they have been idle for 15 minutes. Any unsaved work or work that is saved locally WILL BE LOST. Individual users are responsible to keep their data secure by locking or logging out of lab workstations and to save their data to the network drives (H drive). Users who are not aware of proper logoff procedures should contact a Lab Assistant for help.
CONDUCT AND HARASSMENT
Users engaging in improper or disruptive behavior including yelling, swearing, and using inappropriate language will be asked to leave the labs. Additionally, the display of offensive material on websites or computer wallpaper is prohibited. Students and Lab Staff are equally held responsible to refrain from offensive conduct and to report it when it is encountered.
If you have a specific problem that you feel is not being resolved, please contact the EIC management (noted above). All rules and guidelines listed in the Florida International University student and University employee handbooks will be followed regarding improper conduct or harassment.
ENVIRONMENT
- Dress: Users are expected to dress appropriately, as this is a public environment. Users dressed improperly will not be admitted to the labs.
- Food: No food or drink is allowed in the computer labs. Water bottles with sports lids are the only exception. Please use the trash receptacles outside of the lab to discard your unwanted food items to prevent order in the lab.
- Music: All users must wear headphones when listening to music. The volume of the listening device must be kept low enough as not to distract other lab users.
- Cell Phones and Pagers: To maintain a comfortable environment for all users, cell phones and pagers brought into the Labs should be set to “silent” mode. Additionally, cell phone calls should be kept short and quiet. If conversations are lengthy or become loud or disruptive, they should be taken outside of the Labs.
- Children and Babies: It is not permissible to bring children or babies to the EIC Computer Labs.
USE OF RESOURCES
- HARDWARE & SOFTWARE
Lab equipment is to be used for academic purposes only. Users are only permitted to use the computer systems in the EIC labs as they are configured and maintained. With the exception of headphones and portable media, (CD, DVD, and USB “keys”), additional equipment may not be added to any computer system. The installation, removal or the addition of any other hardware item is not permitted. If a computer peripheral or component is malfunctioning please contact technical support by submitting a ticket on the EIC help desk. Swapping components or peripherals, including cables, is not permitted. All software available on each computer has been tested and licensed for use in the labs. Restrictions are imposed which prohibit the installation of software. If your coursework or research requires a piece of hardware or an application that is not available, you should consult with your instructor. Your instructor can help you assess whether there is an available alternative and they can work with staff to assess whether and how to meet your hardware or application need.
- PRINTING
Printer services are provided in the EIC computer labs in support of academic research or coursework. Each EIC account gives you access to our printing system to print in B&W or in color. At the beginning of each semester, EIC will deposit $10 worth of printing credits into your account free of charge. These printing credits may be used to print in any of the computer labs. If the material you are printing is not academically related, you are asked to refrain from printing. If you need to send large print jobs please consult the technical staff and they can help you print the job efficiently. You are urged to be conservative and print only what you need and do not abandon your print jobs.
Some materials are not permitted to be printed:- Material that contains adult content
- Copyrighted material
- Material for business-related purposes or financial gain
- Excessive amounts of flyers or handouts
- Manuals, guides or books
Users are not permitted to interfere with the operation of any lab printer including loading paper, repairing jams or changing toner. If a printer needs servicing, please contact a technical staff or submit a ticket to the EIC help desk. Please consult the printing services page for costs and how to add additional funds to your account.
- SERVER AND WORKSTATION CONNECTIONS & STORAGE
Upon login, all EIC accounts are connected to a H:\ drive. This is the network “home” directory and is the only location for storing work from CEC lab accounts. Each student has a 4GB quota on the server. If you exceed your quota, additional storage may be grated upon request, please contact the EIC help desk to request more. Please work to keep a “clean house” and delete unneeded documents or files. Please use your H:\ drive, as the primary storage is backed up daily and preserved for 3 years. Anything saved on the computers will be deleted when you are logged out of the computer. You are urged to keep backups of your own work.
- HOMEWORK
Technical Staff are not permitted to help students with homework assignments. Students must direct all homework questions to their professor.