Responses

 

January 20, 2011

Comment:

I am a student at UNT. My Dynamics class instructor (ENGR 2302) is requiring this semester that we turn in our homework assignments on "Engineering Paper" (it's basically a microsoft word document (one page) with our name, class, date, etc. typed in the header and a grid below). Because we will have many homework assignments over the semester, I will need many copies of Engineering Paper. However, the Computer Lab policies say I cannot print multiple copies of anything. In my situation, I find this policy ridiculous. I could print a 20-page paper for any class, but I can't print one page twenty times for my Engineering class. If I have to, I will just print a new copy of it each time I need a new one for a homework assignment, but it would be much easier if I was allowed to simply print many copies (20 or less) at once. I don't want to violate your policies, but my class requires that I have many copies of this paper. If my student fees pay for my printing 20 or more different pages throughout the semester, they certainly pay for printing 20 copies of one page one time. If there is anything you can do to help, I would appreciate it.

Response:

Your statements have been heard, however it is the job of the Lab System and the University to evaluate the overall best use of the facility for the entire UNT community. So, let me highlight a few points that figure in to the fact that duplicate copies are not allowed in the General Access Lab System at the University of North Texas. The General Access Lab System was designed to be good stewards of the funds received from all UNT students who pay for access to the Lab facilities, and the policy insures equitable distribution of the resources. The general access computer lab fees go to the support and functionally of the computing equipment and personnel of ALL 14 UNT General Access Computer Labs. Students may print in any and all of the General Access Computer Labs within the University wide and lab printing policies. Students pay $3.50 per credit hour for the General Access Lab System. This means that if you are enrolled for 12 hours, a full-time student, you pay through your fees, a total of $42 for all 14 General Access Computer Labs. The $42 is divided and distributed among all the computing facilities within the General Access Lab System. Then the funds are used to cover ALL services provided in the labs, this includes the hardware, software patrons have access too, administration and maintenance of the equipment, assistance from staff, the facilities and furniture, etc. Printing is a privileged resources that UNT students have access to, which has been limited to insure equitable use of funds to support academic needs of all UNT students. In order to be the best stewards of the General Access Lab Systems budget, the University determined that a single print out of a print job is covered under the Technology fee assessed for access to the Lab Facilities across campus.

Specifically in this case, the best advise I can give you is to utilize the copier facilities throughout campus. However you may want to talk to the General Access Lab Manager who directly supports the College of Engineering General Access Computer Lab.  They may be able to work something out with your Professor. The Willis Lab, in compliance with the University Printing Policies does not and will not allow for multiple copies, even for similar requests such as blank pages for notes or lined pages for notebook paper substitutions, or graph paper for math classes, etc. Therefore, in this case the lab can not accommodate your request to have free copies of the homework sheets you requested. There are copiers in the Union and throughout the Library to assist you with acquiring multiple copies of the same job as you stated you needed for your homework.

 

 

March 6, 2010

Comment:

I really don't like the rule that we aren't allowed to use the RR in the lab when the Library is open. I bring my back-pack with me to the lab, and I don't like having to leave  it in the lab when I go to the RR or having to take it with me!

Response:

Your statements have been heard, however it is my job to evaluate the overall best use of the facility for the entire UNT community. So, let me highlight a few points that figure in to the fact that the in-lab facility in the 24hr Lab is not available when other proper facilities are. The 24hr lab is a unique environment on campus. The restroom facilities within the lab are not and have never been intended to handle high traffic, be a primary use facility, or cause disruption in the facility. However, the unit does in fact cause a great deal of distraction. it is noisy, not providing much of a barrier for the user and certainly causing a noise interruption for patrons within our facility. Further the unit was specifically intended for the low levels of traffic that occur in the deep night early morning hours. The facility is not properly equipped to handle the high traffic that would occur if the facility was open all day long. Further, it is standard operating procedure and proper facility design to have a restroom within a building that is not necessarily within the room being used.  Again, while I hear what you are saying, the facility within the lab is only there because we are open when no one else is, and it is not sufficient for continuous, high volume use. Therefore, it will remain that lab patrons will have to use the Libraries facilities during Library operating hours.

 

 

March 3, 2010

Comment:

Staff is consistently great, even at one in the morning.

Response:

 Thank you, I will be sure to pass this along to the staff!

 

January 22, 2010

Comment:

The PCs were replaced with Apple computers. Are there other labs on campus with PCs running XP/Vista/7 which are connected to printers?

Response:

First allow me to state, while the 24hr Lab in Willis, is all Apple hardware, the machines ALL have both MAC OS and WINDOWS XP  running. If you are unsure how to get into Windows, the staff in the lab are trained and happy to assist you in access the Windows XP partition on the workstations.  However, there are 14 General Access Lab on campus, all of which have printing and all of which offer Windows XP/7 workstation, as we do in Willis. Willis, simply also offers the MAC OS as well. For Information on the other Labs, go to www.gacl.unt.edu

 

December 7, 2009

Comment:

Great Freaking job behind the desk :) Ya'll always make me feel welcome!!

Response:

 Thank you, I will be sure to pass this along to the staff!

 

November 23, 2009

Comment:

Needs a bigger computer lab! Please Expand!

Response:

 Thank you for your suggestion.

 

October 12, 2009

Comment:

Great people skills!

Response:

 Thank you for taking the time to recognize the efforts and hard work of the lab staff. I am proud of them and will be sure to pass along the positive reinforcement.

 

September 15, 2009

Comment:

Where do our lab fees go? You'd think that ~35,000 students worth of lab fees would translate to a better stapler at the MAIN PRINTING LAB on campus. Is this what we should continue to expect?

Response:

  I would like to thank you for taking t he time to share your feedback with regards to the 24hr General Access Computer Lab at the University of North Texas.  Further, there are a few points to your comment/complaint/suggest that I feel strongly need to be clarified and addressed.

   So let me explain to you the general access computer lab fees go to the support and functionally of the computing equipment and personnel of ALL 14 UNT General Access Computer Labs. There is no distinction as to this lab being the main printing lab. Students may print in any and all of the General Access Computer Labs within the University wide and lab printing policies. Students pay $3.50 per credit hour for the General Access Lab System. This means that if you are enrolled for 12 hours, a full-time student, you pay through your fees, a total of $42 for all 14 General Access Computer Labs. This money is divided and distributed among all the computing facilities within the General Access Lab System. Then the funds are used to cover ALL services provided in the labs, this includes the hardware, software patrons have access too, assistance from staff, the facilities and furniture, and the printing. As a computing facilities, there is no requirement to provide patrons with any type of binding material. As a courtesy, we have opted to try to provide a stapler, hole punch, and 2000 paperclips a month for the convenience of our patrons. The stapler that is provide by the 24hr Lab is a high use, heavy duty stapler. However, due to the abuse received from a number of patrons sometimes the stapler does break and occasionally a secondary inexpensive stapler is provided to make it through the month. Our responsibility is to provide high quality hardware, personnel, and computing software to support the UNT educational goals of our patrons. As providing staplers, fall outside of our core mission we can only justify committing a certain portion of our budget to staplers, therefore we purchase high quality staplers to maximize the benefit to our patrons. In your case, the Lab provided stapler had already been broken prior to your use of the lab and a lesser quality backup had been put in place to help make it through to the following month. In order to be the best stewards of our budget, it has been determined that we can not afford to replace the stapler every time a patron breaks it, unfortunately this translates to other patrons having to adjust to a lesser stapler or even no stapler from time to time.

 

 

 

April 22, 2009

Comment:

I love coming to this lab! Everyone is always extremely helpful! My particular favorite employees are ****,****, & ****!!!

Response:

I appreciate your feedback and will insure that these individuals receive notice of your appreciation of the effort and work they do! Thank you for your comments.

 

 

 

 February 16, 2009

Comment:

Why the MAC infestation?

Response:

The University recently made a huge change in all computing resources on campus, through this time the university went with two main manufacturers of hardware Apple and DELL. Looking at our facility, we had been evaluating ways in which to expand the services that this lab in particular could provide. Therefore, in evaluating our options when we were in need of upgrading our machines we determined a dual boot apple setup would expand the services this facility has to offer, without taking away any services we had previously provided. Therefore, we purchased Apple hardware and established a dual boot setup. Then through our time using the machines we found that offering a virtual windows desktop on the machines was a faster more efficient way to provide both Windows operating system and applications, and Macintosh operating system and application. Through having both available in our facility we can accommodate the wishes of students who use/prefer one system over the other. Also, it is an opportunity for students to become familiar with another system if they so choose. Hence, in the Willis 24hr General Access Computer Lab, we run Apple hardware, with both Windows XP and Mac OS 10 to enhance the computing options and educational opportunities of our patrons.

Thank you for your comments.

 

 

 

 

February 16, 2009

Comment:

I think it is absolutely ridiculous that I cannot print out multiple copies. My tuition pays for it!!

Response:

I appreciate you taking the time to submit your comments/complaint regarding the University of North Texas's computing policy for printing out documents. I understand and respect your feelings about this policy however let me take this opportunity to fully address your comments.

 

    The University of North Texas Computing Groups discussed and designed the policies that govern the various computing services available throughout the UNT system. The University wrote the multiple copies policy to state that each student is allowed a single copy of a print job that is intended to further their academic pursuits. Students pay $3.50 per credit hour for the General Access Lab System. This means that if you are enrolled for 18 hours, a fulltime student, you pay through your fees, a total of $63 for all 14 General Access Computer Labs. This money is divided and distributed among all the computing facilities within the General Access Lab System. Then the funds are used to cover ALL services provided in the labs, this includes the hardware, software patrons have access too, assistance from staff, the facilities and furniture, and the printing. So, it was determined that in order to offer free printing, the University concluded that the fee would include, for free, a single print out and no duplicate copies. Students should utilize photocopy machines for copies. The policy is stated on the web (http://www.gacl.unt.edu/policy.php#Printing  and http://www.library.unt.edu/glab/policies-and-procedures/printing-policies

), are also posted around the Willis 24hr General Access Lab, and in the brochure for the General Access Lab System. According to the Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities, it is the responsibility of the student to be aware of and in compliance with the policies prior to using the facility, which you agree to when you enter a lab. It is not the responsibility of the Lab staff to inform you of the policy, although as a courtesy, we do take the opportunity to remind patrons of the policy when we find a violation. However, it is not within the Lab Staff’s rights or discretion to allow abuse of resources or disregard University policies. Therefore, while I can understand that it may seem "ridiculous" from your prospective, we are responsible to the entire student body to be positive and responsible stewards of the funds paid for services at UNT. The Library has a vast number of photo copiers dispersed around the Library for the convenience of patrons, as well as the copy center in the Union for addressing your needs of multiple copies.

 

 Thank you for your feedback.

 

 

 

 

November 17, 2008 

Comment:

It seems most people are not using the lab for printing. You should enforce that this specific lab is for printing only, and that you should prepare your documents on the other computers. This should help wait times. (I'm looking at someone on facebook right now.)

Response:

I appreciate you taking time to submit your suggestion. However, I must inform you that this facility is in fact a General Access Computer Lab, fully intended to be used as a computing facility. The purpose of this facility as stated on our website (http://www.library.unt.edu/glab ) is:

 “Our primary duty, as part of the UNT General Access Computer Labs system, is to provide computing services to the UNT community and to facilitate the academic pursuits of UNT students with their computing needs. Beyond complying with the GALMAC mission for UNT Computing Centers, the Willis Lab strives to provide UNT students with a lab equipped for library research and word processing projects.”

We enforce a 2 hour time limit on our main workstations and a 10 minute time limit on our print only machine in an effort to minimize the wait when in this facility.  

 

 

 

November 7, 2008 

Comment:

Several weeks ago, I was in the Willis COmputer Lab when I looked over to my left, a gentleman was looking at pornographic material. The girl sitting next to me asked if I found his activity very offensive and distracting and I replied, "Yes." I then proceeded to notify an employee at the checkout desk of the offensive behavior and she told me that I can move to another computer if it was bothersome. I'm curious to know what are the computer lab's policies for this type of activity, for I assume that students can access them for personal use visit sites like facebook and myspace, but is it okay to view pornography in front of others in a public place on campus?

 

Response:

Censorship is not compatible with the goals of the University of North Texas. The University will not limit access to any information due to its content as long as it meets the standard of legality. The University does reserve the right, however, to place reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on freedom of expression on its computer systems.

 

In cooperation with the official University policy, the UNT General Access Computer Labs have adopted these policies regarding access to offensive materials in the computer labs:

The General Access Computer Labs cannot police the activities of our patrons and will not assume that responsibility. If a patron in the General Access Computer Labs is offended by material being viewed by someone in the lab, that patron should notify the lab employee on duty. The lab employee will take the following steps to resolve the problem:

1. The lab employee will move the offended patron to another computer station which is not in a direct line of sight of the offensive material, assuming space is available.
2. If this is not a satisfactory solution to the offended patron, the lab employee will ask the patron viewing the potentially offensive material to move to a computer station where other patrons will not be exposed to the contents of his or her monitor screen. Once again, this is conditional upon available space in the lab.
3. If neither of these actions are acceptable to the patrons, or if there is no space available in the lab to relocate one of the patrons, the lab employee may ask one or the other patron to come back at a later time.
4. If none of these attempts by the lab employee are acceptable to the patrons, the lab employee will ask both patrons to check out of the lab; the General Access Computer Labs will not take sides in this matter

**It is in the best interest of our lab patrons to respect the rights and privacy of others while using the UNT General Access Computer Labs.

 

 

http://www.gacl.unt.edu/polcens.php

 

 

 

March 26, 2008

Comment:

I had to print from a PDF file and was having some trouble figuring it out, however both of the student workers were very helpful. They were not only helpful, but nice and understanding. You are doing a great job (: Thanks so much ---> made my life a lot less stressful.

Response:

Thank you for letting me know. I will insure that the crew hears the appreaciation you have expressed. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to recognize the efforts of the crew memebers' work. Happy we could be of assistance.