🚀 go-pugleaf

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Kathy Bell wrote:

>Our lab has 55 computers in our open lab and we are a school with about
>4,000 students.  We used to let anyone come in and use our lab.  We have
>been so busy that we must restrict users outside our community college from
>using our lab.  We are currently checking student IDs and having them fill
>out a card the first time each semester.  We input the information from the
>card on a database.  Does anyone else have to restrict other users from
>using their labs?  If so what are your solutions to this problem?  Any
>information would be very helpful!

I coordinate a lab of 30 networked Macs which is *supposed* to be a
dedicated networked classroom only for the English Dept. Our school is
about the same size as yours, and open lab facilities are limited, so
we get many unauthorized users during open hours. Since our "staffing"
consists only of me and a few work/study students, this is difficult to
control because the lab is frequently unsupervised. We have a sign-in
notebook, but of course only authorized users sign in. In short, we have
more problems than we have solutions.

Our worst problem is printing abuse (the dept. has to pay for paper and
toner), and I'm looking for a software solution for that--specifically
one that requires an authorized username and password in order to print.
So far, I haven't found one.

Officially, the lab is to be used only for English coursework. Unofficially,
I sympathize with the students who can't get a station in the open labs.
If they know what they're doing, I let them use the workstations if they're
free but make them go print somewhere else. Of course, this only works if
I happen to be around...the lab assistants are only undergrads, and people
just tell them to bug off.

Kate Coffield
ECL/FWP Writing Lab Coordinator
American University in Cairo
kate@auc-acs.eun.eg