Computer Science TA's

Lab Rules apply to both St. John's and St. Ben's except where specific cases are listed.

When you Arrive

1. Check the machines (loose cables, frozen, people logged in/ not around)
2. Make sure there is paper in the printer!
3. Make sure the door is locked when you leave (at SJU)

St. John's paper is currently located in John Miller's room. You should talk to a prof to get paper. The 6:00pm shift TA should make sure there is enough paper for the entire night. (6:00pm to 12:00am)

If you leave the room for more than a bathroom trip, or a quick call to security to lock the door, there must be another TA there that takes over for you. If there is not another TA with you, and you have to leave, you have to lock up the lab and have everyone in the lab leave. If the doors are not locked, you must wait until security locks them before you may leave the lab even if this means you miss the bus.

Appearance

At either of the labs, you should have the sign identifying you as the TA above the computer you are working at. It should face you in the CSB lab, and be pointed towards the blackboard in the SJU lab. As a TA, you should be at the TA desk at SJU,  and any one of the unix machines at CSB

Make sure the machines are presentable; the cords underneath them shouldn't be out of control, they should be free of dust (relatively), and the mouses should all work properly (use the cleaning kits if they aren't).

• This means that before handing over the lab to the next TA, all chairs should be pushed in, keyboards and mouse pads straitened out, and room in good condition around machines not being used.

Irritations

Accounts:

No one may use an account that is not their own unless the owner is sitting right there with them. In that case, the lab must not be full so that account owners can use theirs without interference.

Sounds:

Forcing sounds onto machines is not allowed. If this is a problem mail the TA's account immediately so that we can catch the person forcing the sounds. Sounds are logged, so we can find them.

The Internet and Games:

Work comes first, if the lab fills up, surfers and gamers leave in favor of people that need to study. There is no pornography allowed on the machines, if you see it, tell them to stop and report it to the TA's account. Use the 'tas doit' command to figure out their username by where they are sitting in lab.
In the case of Citrix, if someone can't get into it because too many sessions are open, then students not actively using theirs should be asked to close their Citrix sessions. (SJU/CSB only has 15 licenses for Citrix)

CD's/ Music/ Real Audio/ Radio

Students:

All students now have access to CD players, and may use them as long as it doesn't interfere with other students work. They may either play them out loud, or use headphones. The same with Real Audio, and internet radio. So long as other students are not complaining about it.

TAS:

TAS may listen to CDs or Real Audio while at work, but may not use headphones. Headphones tie the TA to the computer when the TA should be asking questions and/or walking around to see if students need help about every 15 minutes. Again if a student complains about the music level from the TA, drop it to an acceptable level, or shut it off.

Complaints about:

Use common sense. If students are complaining about the music level, see if a lower volume is acceptable, or have all the students without headphones end their music sessions (Including TA, as the TA will never have headphones).

FOOD/BEVERAGES/TOBACCO

NO food, beverage, or tobacco product is allowed in either the SJU 212 lab, or Ardolf 233 lab. Any persons being seen to have these in a lab, will be asked to place them in their backpack, or outside the lab door. It will NOT be allowed to stay in the lab because the student did not know the policy.

There are a few guidelines that govern TA behavior on the job or preparing for work.

Active vs. Passive

TAS are expected to maintain active relationships with those that they work with. This includes:

• Professors
• Students
• Other TAS

This also means that you check out what people are doing when you are in the lab at night. It is usually possible to spot those that haven't typed in a while, are pounding their desk in frustration, or are verbally swearing at their computer. Go over and ask them what they are working on and if you can try to help.

To make this easier during labs, there is now a 1/2 hour of prep time allowed, so you can talk to the professor and look over the lab. This is to allow you more time to concentrate on working with students during the lab.

Dealing with Conflicts

We have students grading other students. Sometimes this causes problems and your students will get upset. Once in a while there may be a student in the lab causing problems and refusing to obey the lab rules.  There are only three things to remember to deal with these situations:

1. Stay calm
2. Record everything
3. If serious problem- Call Security

In order to protect yourself, do not get upset, and as soon as you can, record everything that happened (and why) to the best of your ability, and let John Miller and the TA account know about it as soon as possible. It isn't your job to handle irate students, so you don't have to deal with them.

Be Responsible

Our TA's are given a lot of autonomy for how they choose to work and perform on the job. That means you have to be responsible enough to show up on time and do a good job while you are there. We simply ask that you perform your job conscientiously and maintain the good reputation of our TAS.

There are three main things that people need to do:

1. Show up on time
2. Meet grading deadlines (one cycle)
3. Seek to help students

For the occasional problems that come up, we have a discipline procedure in place, but it is only used when a TA forces us to take that position.

Questions/Comments: John Miller

Last Updated: 09/02/02 , 11:48 AM
Webmaster