Academic Technology and Networks

Academic Computing Labs

Lab Assistant’s Handbook

Attitude

Attitude is important to your success in any job. At ATN, we look for people with enthusiasm and a sincere desire to help others. It’s important to greet people with a smile, genuinely listen to them, talk their language, and try to understand their point of view. We expect lab assistants to be courteous and to avoid appearing condescending; there is no such thing as a dumb question. One of the true tests of this job is being nice to "not nice" people. If you get caught in a tense situation and someone is unhappy, contact the office immediately. We’re there to help you. You are not paid to take abuse. Remember, not every encounter is going to be a success, but every encounter is an opportunity to learn.

Dependability

Arrive at work in a timely manner that allows the person you are replacing to get to class on time. This means arriving at least 5 minutes early. If you open a lab, there are usually students waiting to get in. Be sure to arrive early enough to have the lab running by opening time. If you are late,our phone starts ringing with complaints.

Appearance

Students working for ATN are expected to look neat and professional. Those parameters still allow you to look like a student.

Lab Maintenance

It really doesn’t take that much time to clean up the unused paper, straighten the chairs, and clean up the lab area. It makes the lab look much more professional. This is especially important since we often have visitors from other universities who see our labs.

Time Management

There never seem to be enough lab assistants during the crunch times. Budgeting your time is essential. Sometimes, showing a person where an answer is in the manual will help them get started until you can check back with them later. If you are asked to help with software placed in a lab by a professor, do what you can, but ask the students to let their professor know that more assistance is needed. We do not expect you to know everything - although many people do.

Telephones

Always answer the phone cordially and clearly. An example would be:

"ATN-Davis Lab, Brent speaking. May I help you?"

The phones are for business use. The office staff can’t be in 12 places at once, so the phones are vital. You may make personal calls, but please keep them under 2 minutes, and please limit client calls to 5 minutes.

Visitors

You may have personal visitors for very short periods of time while you are on duty. Please remember that your work comes first and that others are trying to concentrate. Please do not abuse this policy. Also, don’t let your guests work on the lab station where they might be confused for lab assistants.

Noise

We have had complaints in the past about the noise in the labs. This is especially true when several people work together. Be polite but firm in asking people to respect the rights of others. Many people are composing or editing at the keyboard and they need to be able to concentrate.

E-mail

The office distributes a large amount of information through e-mail. All ATN employees are required to have an e-mail account. Reading your e-mail is the best way to get consistent information. It serves as a loud speaker on policy issues, software changes, problems, etc. It is also an effective way to look for subs when you have to miss work. If you have suggestions or ideas you are encouraged to send them to the office.

Holidays and Breaks

During holidays and breaks, normal schedules change. Some buildings close early, others don’t. This is a great time to earn extra money because you can sign up for extra hours. Your routine will change and it’s often difficult to remember what times you’ve signed up for, so make sure you write down your hours or call the office if you are uncertain.
 
 

As a lab assistant, we expect you to be responsible, use common sense, and anticipate problems.

Offer Assistance

Your first and foremost responsibility is to assist people in a polite and friendly manner. Greet them with a smile as they come in the door. We want people to understand that they are welcome. The labs have a very good reputation for helping people and we would like for that to continue. A machine is provided at each lab desk for your use, but only when others do not need your help. Never project the image of someone who does not want to be interrupted.

Lab Managers

Lab managers are responsible for turning in time sheets, keeping supplies on hand, and handling minor problems. They document specifics about their labs, explain policies, and help you interpret them. Don’t hesitate to call these people for help.

Weekend Managers

Every weekend, there will be an assigned manager on duty to assist you in the labs. They will have a beeper in case of emergencies. Please beep them if someone does not show up for their shift or if a server crashes. Do not page or call them at home for non-emergencies.

Find Substitutes

You are responsible for finding your own substitute when you are unable to work. Once you find a sub, don’t forget to remind that person. Substitutes are responsible for being on time. If you agree to sub for someone and something comes up, you are responsible for other coverage arrangements. Anyone who gets a sub should always send a message to subs@email.unc.edu with the date, time, lab and person who is subbing. If you should find yourself in an emergency and you can’t get to the lab, contact the office. We will make immediate arrangements.

Handle or Refer Software Problems

If someone seems confused about what they are doing, make sure their work has been saved before you attempt to help them. Take care not to do their assignment for them. This is especially important for Comp 4 and Comp 14 assignments where learning how to use the program is part of the assignment. If there are others in the lab with the same assignment, they may be able to help out.

If someone loses or deletes a file, you should send the troubled soul directly to the Technical Assistance Center. Make sure you warn him or her not to write anything else to the disk. If the person has made no other changes to the disk, the data may still be retrievable. If this mishap takes place while the Technical Assistance Center is closed, the victim should use another disk and take the damaged one to the Technical Assistance Center as soon as possible. Tell the person to save any hard copies. When all else fails, the Technical Assistance Center may be able to scan a good, clean printout.

If you are unsure how to help someone with a software problem, try these steps:

Report Any Network Problems

The networks have been placed in the labs so that you can have more time to help people instead of handing out software. If you run into any software problems that you think are network related, let the office know immediately. The network needs to be reliable and trouble-free for people to feel comfortable using it. If the file server goes down, call the office or use the beeper immediately.

Opening and Closing Procedures

Most of the computer labs have some kind of door combination or alarm, or both. Please know the codes BEFORE you get to the lab. Every lab manager has the codes, so you can either get the information from them or from the office. Please arrive 5-10 minutes before the lab opens so you can get the lab up and running smoothly. Turn everything on including the monitors, cpu's and printers. Make sure each printer is full of paper and check for paper jams that may have happened the night before. To close a lab, make sure everything is turned off and the paper trays are refilled. Also, check the print monitor to make sure there are no print jobs still waiting to print. Pick up spare paper and push the chairs in to make the lab look neater in appearance.

Enforce Policy

No one likes to play the heavy. That’s why it’s important to explain to people that policies are designed to share limited resources with as many people as possible. They are intended to discourage inconsiderate or thoughtless behavior. To help you out, we’ve collected a few pointers.

• Anticipate problems and warn people ahead of time of policies they may be unfamiliar with.

• Give them the benefit of the doubt; don’t come across as accusatory or condescending.

• Tell them the policy politely, and give them the reason behind it. If you’re not sure of the reason, ask us. If you think it is a bad policy, let us know.

If you’re asked to make an exception, tell them that you are not authorized to make an exception, and refer them to the office. If someone is uncooperative or abusive, immediately contact the office for help.

Protect Copyrights

Copying our lab software is illegal. Everything we provide is copyrighted and copy protected. That means that the only legal way to get and use that software outside the lab is to pay for it. If you see someone trying to copy the software, give them the benefit of the doubt, assume they don’t know any better and explain to them why they can’t do that. Helping someone copy software is grounds for dismissal and prosecution by the honor court.

Provide Security

You are the security for our equipment. That’s why it’s important that the room never be left unattended and that you learn how to properly open and close a lab. If you are responsible for closing, you must securely lock the lab and turn on any alarms. Specific instructions are available from the office. Before leaving, make sure that all stations are shut down, the printer paper trays are full, and the desk, lab, and software are neat and in order. It is important that the lab be ready for use first thing in the morning. Should you have any questions, please call the office.

Hardware Problems

Our goal is to bring equipment back on-line as quickly as possible.  To report problems send a message to the techs via REMEDY – visit http://help.unc.edu/

• Click on “Request Help” on the lower, left hand side of the page
• Type in your ONYEN and password
• Change the “type of help needed” to
• Computer Lab Maintenance (ATN)
• Describe the problem in the “Problem Description” area
• Choose the appropriate “Lab,” “Station number,” and “Hardware/Supplies”
• Enter the computer lab phone number
• DO NOT change the Severity option!
• Submit the remedy ticket

You may be able to handle some equipment problems yourself. However, please don’t move a broken machine; it only confuses the technicians since the equipment is inventoried by location.

Changing Toner and Paper

You are responsible for keeping the lab in good working order. With experience you will learn when to change toner. We don’t want professors complaining that they can hardly read an assignment, nor do we want to go through our semester’s supply too rapidly. Again, good judgment is required. Keep an eye on the paper and report a low supply to the lab manager. Do not let people use their own paper in the laser printers. Everyone is printing to the same printers and it creates a lot of confusion. The control panel on the printers are locked from use. Do not allow users to attempt to modify the printer parameters.

If you open the last box of paper, or if you use the last toner, then you need to submit a remedy ticket.

Work During Exams

Everyone is expected to work during this time of the year. It is required in order to be scheduled the next semester. We will have a volunteer schedule during this time so that you can work according to your own schedule.

Sign-in Sheets

When working in the Davis-Mac Lab, please ask people to sign in before using a machine. This is necessary because the number of users for which we provide service determines our funding. We do not have a login program for the Macs, so we need to use the sign-in sheets to count users.  Also, make sure that the time and machine number are listed so that you may enforce the two hour limit when necessary.
 
 

Policies are meant to be enforced. When you fail to apply policies, you create a problem for the next assistant who does. Consistency is in the best interest of both yourself and ATN. There will always be cases where exceptions need to be made, but when that happens, get some feedback from your manager or ATN afterwards. That way you’ll learn what’s appropriate. We try, when possible, to explain how we arrived at the policy. That information is important to pass on to others in order to gain their cooperation. Our policies are usually made for financial, equitable, or practical reasons. If you think there’s a better way, please suggest an alternative to the office. If a client disagrees with one of our policies, let them know that we will be happy to discuss the issue.

Unattended Machines

A machine left unattended for more than ten minutes (10) may be reassigned if people are waiting. Save the person’s work and put their stuff at the lab desk. To help avoid this situation, inform people of the policy when you see them getting up to leave, especially if the lab is crowded.

Academic vs. Non-Academic

All non-academic clients must give up their computer when there is a wait for academic use. This policy is sometimes hard to enforce and interpret. If someone is using email, they may be writing a personal message or they may be writing an English paper. We do not ask that you spy on our clients, so try to use your best judgement. If you see people using email or browsing the web, you can politely make a general announcement to the lab to ask if anyone is willing to give up their machine since others are waiting to do academic work.

Food, Drinks & Smoking

These are bad habits around microcomputers, especially keyboards. Sticky keys are expensive to replace. Lab assistants working more than 4 hour shifts may have a drink, but please keep it out of sight and away from the equipment. The lab clients are not allowed to have food.  Drinks must be in a closed container and placed on the floor.

One PC per Person

Yes, some people are into multi-processing. If the lab is not busy you may allow people to use two PCs. Make it clear that they must yield the machine if someone else needs it.

Laser Printing

Laser printing is expensive and the printers are not built to be copiers. When users are printing documents longer than 20 pages, have them print the document in sections so that the printer is not tied up doing one job for a long time. If a user needs several copies of the same document, they should print 1 copy and duplicate the others on a copy machine. Users are not allowed to use their own paper. There will be no exceptions to this rule. Bond paper is far more likely to jam the printers. Also, it is difficult to change paper in the printers without affecting other people's print jobs.

Laser Printing for University Work Only

Laser printing is limited to University-related work; we are not in competition with commercial firms. This means no church bulletins, advertisements, wedding invitations, etc. Use your judgment. If someone abuses the policy, explain the policy and politely ask him or her to stop. Most people will cooperate. If not, notify the office and log the person’s name. We will talk to them to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Laser Cartridges

Please read the instructions that come with the box. You can ruin a laser cartridge by turning it upside down or standing it on end.
 
 

Timesheets

Timesheets must be turned in every other week (by NOON on THURSDAY if you're turning it into the office). You can turn them in at the lab where you work. Each manager has established a collection folder and pickup policy. Be sure to talk with the lab manager to verify their policy. When filling out the time sheet, include your hours for the weekend, and list on the form "sub note" who subbed for you or vice versa. Be sure to sign the time sheet; otherwise we can't turn it in, and your check will be delayed. We have a lot of timesheets to process, so your cooperation will be greatly appreciated.

Paychecks

Pick up paychecks every other Friday from the office between 10AM and 4PM. If you work for another department, your check may go there every payday. At the end of the semester we will mail them to you if you leave your address and instructions to do so.

Phone Calls

You may not charge any long distance phone calls to an ATN phone number. If you have an emergency, call the office and we will allow you to use the office phone.

Training Classes

Training classes are available free of charge at ATN. Contact the ATN Training Center at 962-1160 if you would like to take a course. We encourage all lab assistants to attend the Introductory classes, and we pay you for half of the time you spend in class.

Maintained by: Gina Shoe
Email: labs@unc.edu
URL: http://www.unc.edu/atn/labs/manual.html
Last Updated: 16 January 2002