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Lab Rules & Procedures

The primary function of the Academic Computing Labs in the One Main Building, Commerce Street Building, Shea Building, and UHD Northwest is to provide computing resources and user support for instructional activities at the University of Houston-Downtown.

All users of academic computing facilities and resources are subject to the following regulations.

 

Lab access

University of Houston-Downtown students, faculty and staff are eligible to use academic computing facilities and resources. Access will not be granted to others without approval by Lab Managers.

Conduct in lab

  • Be responsible and courteous.
  • Parents discouraged from bringing children. Parents must take the responsibility for the supervision and control of any child who accompanies them to a lab. A parent must never leave a child unattended. Any child who is disruptive to other students or causes damage to any of the equipment will be asked to leave (along with his/her parent).
  • No smoking, eating, or drinking. Drink and food containers, whether empty or sealed, will not be allowed in the lab. Please cooperate and place these items in a backpack or book bag rather than on tables or on the floor.
  • No cellular phone usage. Cell phones must be turned off or turned to vibrate or silent setting while you are using the lab. Calls should not be initiated or answered in the lab. Please step to the hallway when using a cell phone.
  • Minimize noise. Please be respectful of computer lab users by minimizing noise or excessive talking in the Academic Computing Lab. Noise caused by loud conversations, personal audio devices, programs that make sounds, etc. is not acceptable.

Accounts

  • University purposes only. All university issued accounts are intended solely for university related purposes. They are not to be used for business or other profit producing endeavors or for recreational purposes.

Using the lab

  • No games. Games are prohibited on all academic computing resources. (This restriction does not apply to games and simulations used in conjunction with academic courses or research. The Manager of Student Technology Services must receive written notice from the instructor of record in advance of such use.) Any student running a game on the computer will be asked to close the game and leave the lab. Be considerate of others who need to do class assignments, and adhere to these policies.
  • PC configurations are strictly controlled. Students are not allowed to install any software on the hard drive of lab computers or network or alter any existing software.
  • Checking out laptops. Students may check out a laptop for use on campus. Laptops are available in S800, C300 and B200. Please see "Laptop checkout program" for more information
  • Do not use the lab telephone. The telephone is not a courtesy telephone. It is used for the lab assistant to communicate with the lab supervisor. Lab users are not to receive calls in the lab.
  • Report malfunctions. Users should not attempt to repair any malfunctioning equipment or software, but should report any such occurrences to academic computing personnel.
  • Do not save files onto computers. Users are not allowed to save documents or files on the Academic Computing Lab PCs. In fact, if you save your work to a lab computer’s hard drive or desktop, the data will be lost when the computer is restarted. Users must provide their own media (USB drive, for example) on which they may save and access their data.
  • Server storage space. Each student has 20 MB of storage area on the Linux server. You can use this area to store files like MS Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, etc. Documentation on how to access this storage space is available in the ACL.
  • Computer time limit. During times of heavy usage, the computer lab manager may institute a two-hour time limit on workstation sessions in the Academic Computing Labs. If at the end of a two-hour session there is no one waiting to use a workstation, the student may continue to work there until such time as a demand for the workstations arises. 
    If items have been left at a workstation, but no one has been there for more than 15 minutes, those items will be moved to the check-in desk so the workstation can be free for the next student to use.

Print account

Each student who is registered for classes at UHD has a 500 sheet (black-and-white printing) print account credit that can be used to cover printing costs in the ACL. Printed materials must be for academic purposes only. If the print credit account becomes depleted, students can purchase additional printing credit through the use of a cash machine in the S800 lab, the University cashier’s office or "payments under student eServices. Students who register late for classes may experience up to a two day delay before this credit account can be accessed.

Lab Security

Compromising the security of any computer or network, and/or using university computing resources to engage in any illegal activity is strictly prohibited. Any changes to student accounts or access to any system must be requested by the responsible faculty member.

  • Use only your own account. Computing accounts are for use only by the person to whom the account has been issued by authorized computing personnel.
  • Do not disclose your information. A user may not disclose his/her password or allow other users to access his/her account.
  • Report suspicious activity. Each user is fully responsible for the activity of any account that has been assigned to him/her. If a user suspects that his/her account has been accessed by another user, the Manager of Student Technology Services should be notified immediately.
  • Users shall not represent themselves electronically as others.
  • No hacking. Users shall not by any means attempt to infiltrate a computing system or network either on the UHD campus or elsewhere.
  • Regulated external access. All users of UHD external network connections shall comply with the evolving "Acceptable Use" policies established by the external networks’ governing bodies.