There are two general use teaching labs (PS 334 and PS 352) available only to students taking Geosciences courses requiring the use of these labs - these labs are departmentally supported and not open to the general university student body. Systems are available on a first come first serve basis when a scheduled class does not occupy the room. Additionally, there is a computer lab in PS 332 for graduate students and advanced upper undergraduates that have received permission from their instructor.

Computer access:  Login using your FAU username and password (Your password for logging in may be different then your MyFAU password). New students will need to activate their account at http://accounts.fau.edu/ad.htm. A guest login may be obtained from your instructor if you need temporary access to activate your FAU account.  Password and login problem help can be obtained by calling the FAU help desk at 297-3999.

Printing policies:  The Dept. of Geosciences has implemented the following free printing quota amounts for all dept. computer labs: General students do not have print priviledges; Geo majors - $1.50 per week; Students taking GISC courses - $1.50 + $1.50 per course, Geo grad. students  - $2.50 per week.   Dollar amounts are for software accounting purposes only and do not represent real money, nor are students charged in any way in connection with the print quota system. Printing rates: Color printing is deducted at $0.20 per page, Black and White printing is deducted at $0.06 per page. You can check your balance at http://geo-printserv/papercut. If you require printing in excess of your weekly quota see your instructor, Tobin Hindle or Tom Corcoran.

Lab policies:
1. NO food or drink allowed next to the computers.
2. Never install any software without permission of computer administrators (i.e. KAZAA, NAPSTER, Search Aids, etc.).
3. Only write (save) files to CDs, USB drives, X: and S: drives, never to the C: or My Documents.
4. Dept. personal directories (FAU user name) are created automatically on the X: or S: drives for files used in Geosciences classes. ALL files on the X: drive are deleted a few days AFTER the end of each semester. Files on S: remain until student graduates/leaves the dept. Additionally, FAU provides a personal directory on M: that includes a web accessible folder.
5. The Geosciences Department is NOT responsible for student files on any drives. It is HIGHLY encouraged that students maintain backup files on CDs and USB drives.
6. Report all system problems immediately to your instructor, or directly to Sys. Admin. via e-mail at: thindle@fau.edu or tcorcora@fau.edu * Due to limited storage space, MUSIC and MOVIE files (.mp3, .wav, mpeg, .mov, .mpg) are not allowed on any department harddrives (local or network) and will be deleted without notice.

File Storage:
M: FAU Personal drive – This space is provided by FAU (not the Geosciences Dept.) and is available on all FAU computers. There is a storage limit of 20 MB.
R: Course Material - Instructors may use this drive to create a directory (using course number i.e. Gly2010) to put data used by their students such as images, assignments, notes, data files, etc. Instructors can also use these directories for class projects. By default this drive is read/write for faculty and grad. students and read only for general students.
X: Temp Space - This is a temporary storage space for the general student body to keep course work. Permissions are set to prevent access by other students. However, dept. faculty and graduate students have read access to these directories and write access to a special folder called “PUBLIC” created in each student’s directory. There is a 250MB disk space limit for X: drive users. At the end of EACH semester ALL data will be erased to ensure adequate storage space for the next semester. Personal USB drives are the recommended and preferred storage media for most students.
P: Projects - This is for faculty funded and non-funded research projects (and other projects not associated with classes). Only faculty have access to this drive (permissions can be changed to allow others also if students are collaborating on a project).
S: Students - This is for students (mostly graduate) that have requested permanent storage for course, DIS, and thesis work. Permissions are set to prevent access by other students. However, dept. faculty have read access to these directories and write access to a special folder called “PUBLIC” created in each student’s directory. There is a 5GB disk space limit for S: drive users.

The Department is not responsible for data loss, including hard drive failure, so it is important to maintain duplicate copies of your data on your own media, such as Zip or CD-R.