Here are some written guidelines to help newcomers learn the ropes. Thank you for your cooperation in adhering to them so that we may continue to enjoy the open and relaxed working environment to which we've grown accustomed. Please use these rules to help the staff help you, and feel free to call on the staff with any questions or suggestions.
Help Facilities
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For computer-related problems: send mail to problem@cs.brown.edu
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For building-related problems: send mail to cit@lists.cs.brown.edu
Equipment
If you would like to use ANY equipment and haven't been specifically instructed in its proper use, PLEASE ASK SOMEONE. If you notice any damage to any equipment or equipment failure, please report it immediately (by sending mail to “problem”). Do not attempt to fix it yourself. Please note that no equipment is to be moved without the approval of the technical staff, and that the machine rooms are off-limits except to authorized people.
All printing generated by students in CS courses should be directed to bw1, located on the first floor of the CIT in the SunLab (CIT 143). New undergraduate accounts will default to this automatically. Undergraduate student listings queued to other printers in the department will be deleted and appropriate mail sent to the student. Grad students, faculty, and staff, can use most of the other departmental printers such as c3, bw3, c4, bw4, c5, and bw5.
Security
Keys and swipe/access cards to the building, rooms and elevators are your responsibility as well as your privilege. Don't lend them to anyone and don't allow anyone to enter the building “with you'' unless they are authorized to use the Departmental facilities. If you see someone unfamiliar in the building outside of office hours, please ask them politely if you can help them and tell them to leave if you don't get a reasonable answer. Don't prop doors open; if you see a prop, remove it, if you see a door that should be locked, lock it, etc. If you use a key to open a locked facility, you assume responsibility for that facility. Be sure the door stays locked when you leave. You are encouraged to keep your office door locked when the room is vacant. We are very vulnerable to theft!
Clear Access
No materials should be stored or left in the hallways, by order of the Fire Marshall.
Keep It Clean
Please clean up after yourself, not only in the kitchens and common rooms, but in your offices. Custodians will empty office trash a few days during the week, but not on weekends, and they are not responsible for other cleaning duties in your space. You are responsible for getting rid of old food and drink items, preferably in the kitchen trash bins, and for cleaning up any spills. Custodians can help with major clean-up problems if they occur, but they are not on duty at all times.
Supplies
Unlocked cabinets in the 4th floor copy room contain office supplies such as pens, pencils, paper clips and pads. Please ask an astaff member about other items, as needed. And please tell Reception when a particular supply item is getting low!
Supplies are only provided to graduate students in support of their research and TA duties and to undergraduates in support of their UTA duties. All students are responsible for supplies used for their course work.
Copying
Please be aware that the University has stringent copyright rules. For detailed information, please see the policy here. Avoid copying for personal use.
Faxing
To send or receive faxes related to research and curricular activities in CS, please use the Copy Machine in the 4th Floor copy room next to the Chair’s office. Instructions for dialing out are on the wall above the machine.
Mail And Packages
Mail is delivered once a day, in the morning. Only work-related mail should be sent via the University mail system; all personal mail will be returned to the sender.
The University does not allow receipt of personal packages via US Mail or Express Mail companies. If packages are received, they will be kept at Reception, and you will receive an email notification for pick up. If you do not retrieve the item by 5 pm, it will be locked in storage. Please see Reception to retrieve your package the next work day.
Food For Lectures And Events
If you are not attending a lecture or demo, do not partake of the food set out for that event beforehand. Once the event has begun and the doors are closed, remaining food can be taken. For large lectures with a reception that follows the event, please do not take food prior to or during the event. Food on the table in the 4th floor kitchen is available to the community.
Refrigerators And Coffee
Refrigerators are available for use on the 3rd, 4th and 5th floors. Please mark any items with your name, and please do not take items belonging to others. Also, please do not leave items in the fridges for an extended period, or they will be tossed.
Coffee is available for faculty, graduate students and staff only; creamers and sugar are available. Cups are available, but you are encouraged to be Green and use your own mug. Please read the directions on the machine for making coffee.
Smoking
Smoking is prohibited in the building.
Lectures And Visitors
If you would like to use a CS conference room, you may see availability by viewing the room schedule on the page for the room you'd like to request at http://cs.brown.edu/facilities/rooms/. Email reception with the relevant information (date, time and purpose).
Children In The Building
Due to the possible disruption of the working environment and risk of injury, young children are allowed in the department only for occasional short visits.
Computer System Security
The computer systems maintained by the department are reasonably secure from users disrupting system integrity, either unintentionally or deliberately. However, due to the nature of the department, users may require privileged access to files that would not be available to them in a production system. Since some of these rights might not be available to them under normal conditions, a great deal of trust must exist between users and administrators. It is the responsibility of the user not to abuse this trust. If any user is aware of a technique of breaking the security of a system or of a person who has broken security, he or she should immediately report this to the system administrators either in person or by emailing TStaff. Failure to do so will be dealt with by appropriate disciplinary action.
Files belonging to individuals should not be assumed to be open to general browsing, even if they are unprotected. It is considered an invasion of privacy to access a person's files without asking permission.
Printers
These give high-quality output on regular-sized paper. If a printer runs out of paper, please fill the paper tray. If a printer needs toner, please email problem@cs.brown.edu and someone will change the cartridge.
Please pick up output as soon as possible after printing. Output left for more than two days will be recycled.
Poster Printer: The HP DesignJet Z5200 (clf4hq) is a large format printer capable of printing a 42” width image. This print queue is a restricted queue for faculty and graduate students only. All print jobs are held by default on the print queue and are released through the linux lp command or the clf4hq web interface using your LDAP credential.
Pets
Per University regulations, pets (with the except of registered Service Animals, such as seeing-eye dogs) are not permitted in the building.
First-Floor Labs
The linux and mac workstation labs are located in the first-floor auditorium in rooms 143 and 167. The lab hours can be found at SUNLAB and MSLAB respectively. During hours a consultant is on duty to handle problems and control machine usage. Access to the labs is controlled by this person and the department's technical staff; no one (other than authorized personnel) is permitted to unlock lab doors, and anyone finding the lab unlocked and unmonitored should report it at the 4th floor reception area immediately.
The consumption of food and drink is prohibited in the labs.
Observing The Rights Of Others
The Department runs a number of facilities available to a large community of users. Every member of this community is expected to respect the rights of others at all times. Displaying offensive material or engaging in disruptive behavior is not acceptable.