Computer Lab Basics

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What's There:

• Most labs have 24 student workstations and an instructor's station. Each station is equipped with a Dell or Gateway Pentium 4 computer with CD/RW/DVD player, mouse, 17" monitor. All stations are connected to the RVCC network which gives access to RVCC e-mail and the Internet.
• Standard software for all labs includes: Windows XP SP2 and Microsoft Office 2007 Suite (MS Word, MS Excel, MS Access, MS PowerPoint) and MS FrontPage. Internet Explorer and FTP are also standard on these machines. Specialized software for classes meeting in each lab is accessible from the server. Any additional software that you might need installed for your class should be requested through your Department Chairperson. Please keep in mind that it takes time to install and test new software; requests for changes to the installed base must be made at least three weeks before the first assigned use of the new software.
• Except for the lab used for multimedia classes, there are no speakers installed at the workstations. If you need speakers for your class, please contact the Helpdesk, also on the front or the back of the PC is a port where you can plug in you head set.
• Each lab comes equipped with a Hewlett-Packard or Dell LaserJet printer which is accessible from all of the workstations.
• All classroom labs are equipped with ceiling-mount projection systems which are connected to the instructor's workstation. For help in learning how to use the projection system, contact Instructional Technology (ext. 8314). If you experience difficulties with the system during a class, please notify the Help Desk.
• If you need a classroom/lab at a time other than your scheduled class hours, please contact the Help Desk. The labs are used for a variety of activities in addition to regularly scheduled classes and must be specifically booked for any use other than the semester's scheduled times.

Basic Rules:

• The House Rules for the labs are posted both inside and outside the rooms. Evacuation procedures are also posted.
• Please remind your students that they are not to bring food or drinks into the lab. As the posted signs indicate, there is no eating, drinking, smoking, or tobacco chewing in the lab.
• Game playing is also prohibited, and there are no games installed on the lab computers. If the students install their own games, the games will be removed.
• Your students should be reminded that changing, or attempting to change, the setup or the configuration of a lab computer (including changing screen savers or posting inappropriate material) is a violation of the RVCC Computer Use Policy and may result in loss of computer access.
• Students should save their work on diskettes or CD. While they may be able to write to the hard (C:) drive, any non-lab standard files will be erased when the lab machines are reloaded, as they are on a regular basis. SunGardHE/MIS is not responsible for user files lost when the lab is reloaded.
• Remind your students that one black, unlabeled diskette looks much like another black, unlabeled diskette. Diskettes should be labeled with the owner's name as well as the course title or project. We can't guarantee that a diskette left in the lab will still be there when the owner returns to claim it. While abandoned diskettes may be turned in at the Help Desk, it is difficult to identify an unlabeled diskette.

Open Lab:

• Lab S-130 and W-212 are open labs with no classes scheduled. The software required for your class is also installed in S-130 so your students will be able to do their computer-related assignments. If we do not have enough licenses to install the software in both labs, it will be in the classroom lab only. In such a case, the student should contact the Help Desk about access to the room with the software.
• S-130 is open from 8:00am - 5:00pm Monday - Friday and is closed on Saturday and Sunday. W-212 is open from 8:00am - 10:00pm Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 4:30pm on Saturday and closed on Sunday. Hours are subject to change.

If You Need Assistance or More Information:

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