Responsibilities of CSCI Lab Assistants

The job of a laboratory assistant is to assist students in preparing solutions to assignments for their classes. This is a job, albeit not a high paying job, and we expect that you will approach it in a professional manner. We maintain a file on your employment and will be happy to write letters of reference based on your work experience with the department. To help clarify your position we list the following responsibilities:

• Assist students while they are doing their assignments.
  • Answer questions about application software.
  • Show how to obtain on-line help.
  • Assist with hardware problems.
  • Assist in identifying errors.
  In particular you are not to provide solutions or suggest approaches to solutions. These are jobs for the instructor and TAs of the course. A good rule to use is to "never touch the mouse." Tell the student what to do. This lessens the likelihood that you will be blamed for missing files on disks, and other disasters.
• You should dress appropriately and treat the students in a polite professional manner. You should never be rude to a student even if they are wrong, unprepared, or even rude to you.
• Check the status of computers, printers and supplies. If you are on duty when the office closes (5:00PM) then you are responsible for checking the paper supply and obtaining sufficient paper to last until the next day. Additional paper may be obtained from Steve Wright. If the printer indicates that it is "low on toner" or starts to print poorly report this via email to staff@cs.sc.edu or help@cs.sc.edu.
  CSCI 101/102 TAs and proctors can obtain supplies by contacting Ron Garber in Sumwalt 122 or may request supplies by email to garber@cs.sc.edu. Please be as specific as possible.
• Report hardware or software problems.
  • Report problems in Sumwalt 361 to: glenn@psc.sc.edu
  • Report problems in LeConte 303A to: tony@psc.sc.edu
  • Report problems in Sumwalt 116 or 244 to: garber@cs.sc.edu
  • Report problems all other labs to: wright@cs.sc.edu
  If the problem is not fixed or labeled "in process of being fixed", report it again on the next shift.
• Clean up paper, trash and empty the recycle container as necessary.
• Enforce the no food or drink in the labs.
• Once a week wipe monitors, mice, keyboards and tables.