Guidelines for Use of Computer facilities
Computer Laboratory (MIDI Lab)
The College’s Computer Laboratory (commonly referred to as MIDI Lab) is available for student use during regular business hours. Any changes in the hours shall be clearly posted outside the lab. There are fifteen workstations that contain an iMac and a MIDI controller keyboard. Each computer is loaded with productivity application software (Microsoft Office, AppleWorks, Safari, Firefox), MIDI and audio programs for music (Sibelius, Finale) and multimedia development programs (QuickTime Pro, GarageBand, iLife, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash).
Some computers, which are available in classrooms and practice studios should be used only to practice with SmartMusic software. They should not be used for any other purposes.
Internet Access and Email Accounts
All computers in the College are connected to the internet. Wireless access is available throughout the building, but should not be used to download large files. Contact the lab assistant or IT staff to help you configure your computer to use wireless internet. Students are provided with a “vandercook.edu” email address and must use this email address as their primary email address for academic communications. Faculty and staff use email as an official form of communication, and students will be held accountable for information disseminated this way. It is expected that students limit their use of this service to those activities that fulfill research and study needs.
Users and Their Responsibilities
Access to the VanderCook MIDI lab is limited to currently enrolled students. Users are responsible for ethical use of the computer resources, including both honesty in their academic pursuits and respect for others who share these resources. If requested, users should be prepared to sign in and/or may be requested to present a valid VanderCook picture ID when they enter a computing facility.
Guidelines for Use
Computing and networking resources are limited; therefore, the first priority should be the fulfillment of academic or instructional objectives for students using the computer facilities. Users may be asked to justify the academic legitimacy of their activities to lab management.
Attendants may ask students engaged in non-academic pursuits to relinquish machines for students who need to do work for their classes.
Users should be aware of state and federal laws governing the distribution and display of obscene materials. The distribution and display of obscene materials is prohibited. Usage privileges may be revoked if users are found to be abusing these policies.
Some computersare reserved for specific purposes because of special features such as an attached scanner or specialized software. Students needing those resources shall have priority on those machines.
Care of computing resources
The consumption of foods and beverages, including bottled water, is prohibited in the computer lab.
Malfunctioning equipment should be reported immediately to the lab assistant in charge of the facility.
Computers are configured according to the needs of students and faculty/staff. Users must not change hardware or software configuration or settings. Users who have suggestions for a hardware or software configuration change should speak to IT staff.
Users are expected to exercise good judgment when submitting printing tasks and take proper care of the computers, printers and all other equipment found in the facilities.
Reducing wasteful use of paper and printing supplies
Users must only print materials of academic relevance or co-curricular significance.
Users are expected to be conservative in their use of paper and to exercise discretion when printing documents to prevent waste of expensive printing materials. Because cartridges are costly, users must be prudent when sending print jobs to printers.
Users should submit the print command only once to avoid printing multiple copies of a document. Users should allow adequate time to ensure a successful print job before re-sending a print command.
Users who need multiple copies of a document must use a photocopying machine for duplication of documents. Coin-operated photocopiers are available in the Library (during library hours).
Users are urged to use the “print preview” command before submitting a print job. Blank pages that appear in the “print preview” result should be deleted before the print job is sent.
Users should notify the lab attendant if the printer has failed to respond correctly after the first print command. If users have submitted an incorrect print job, they should notify the lab attendant so that the attendant can attempt to cancel the job.
Users should save personal email, web pages and any kind of academically irrelevant materials to removable media, such as zip disks floppy disks, and CD-R or CD-RW disks.
Respect for others using the facilities
Those using the facilities should work quietly. Loud conversations and disruptive behavior disturb others who are trying to do academic work.
Users may not encroach on others’ use of computing resources. Such activities include, but are not limited to, sending harassing messages, introducing viruses or anything else that damages software or hardware, and misrepresenting one’s identity in electronic communication.
Persons who are disruptive in computer lab facilities will be asked to leave immediately. The lab attendant may summon the IT staff if a student refuses to leave. Campus security may be summoned to the facility if a user poses a threat to the safety of the facility or to other users.
Repeated incidents of disruptive or harassing behavior will result in loss of computer use privileges.
Skills needed to use computer facilities
The MIDI Lab is primarily self-service facility. Users are responsible for learning the skills necessary to use the computer applications. Software documentation and manuals may be made available upon request.
The lab attendant’s responsibilities include (a) insuring that users properly sign in and sign out; (b) troubleshooting hardware; (c) correcting printer malfunctions; and (d) enforcing these lab guidelines. In addition to these primary responsibilities, attendants may be able to provide limited assistance to users based on the attendant’s knowledge of specific software.
Software and data on computer lab facilities
Only software owned by or licensed to VanderCook shall reside on campus lab computers. All applicable copyright laws and licenses must be observed.
No software or “freeware” shall be installed on any lab computer without express permission from the IT department.
Users must save their work to removable media such as USB flash drives and recordable compact discs.
Monitoring and Inspection of Electronic Records
The content on any school computers, including electronic mail, is subject to inspection by IT personnel, if required. VanderCook reserves the right to monitor and / or log all network activity of users without notice, including all e-mail and Internet communications.
Violations of the Guidelines
Disciplinary actions for violating any provisions of these guidelines shall be governed by the applicable provision of the Code of Student Conduct found in the Student Handbook.
Sanctions for violation of these guidelines may include revocation or suspension of computer access privileges in addition to any other sanctions permitted under the Code of Student Conduct.
Resources covered by these guidelines include host computer systems, personal computers and workstations, computer peripherals, communications networks, software, removable media, and files.
The School may monitor access to any of these resources in order to ensure security of its systems and networks and to enforce the policies.
Please send questions and feedback to techhelp@vandercook.edu.