Introduction

The School currently maintains laboratories at its Campbelltown, Parramatta and Penrith sites. All of the School's computers are linked to the university's computing network, and via that, to the Internet. In order to use the School's computer equipment, students must register for a computer account with the School. The School only provides computer accounts to those students enrolled in courses or subjects taught by the School.

Account Registration

All new students should log into one of the School's laboratory PCs as register (password register) and follow the directions on screen. Your account details will be available for pick-up from 26.2.14 (Campbelltown), ECG-53 (Parramatta) or Y2-13 (Penrith) between 10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm Monday - Friday (and 6pm-9pm from ECG-09 at Parramatta) during the first two weeks of semester. Outside of these hours, contact your local Campus Support Officer (see below)

Hours of Operation

During Semester

Campbelltown

Some laboratories are open 24 hours a day (17.1.44 & 17.2.01), others are open 9am-6pm Monday - Friday.

Parramatta

8am-11pm Monday - Friday

Penrith

9am-6pm Monday - Friday (currently under review - in the future, some laboratories may be available for extended hours - please keep an eye on the Message of the Day for more details).

The laboratories are closed on public holidays.

During Semester Holidays
Laboratories are open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday only.

Passwords

Your password is the key to your computer account, and so to preserve the integrity of your account, your password:

• Must be at least eight (8) characters in length and at most fourteen (14) characters in length. Those characters can be letters, numbers, or punctuation marks of some kind.
• Must not be one of your last ten (10) passwords.
• Should not be a word, a phone number, a name, a place, or anything else easily guessed by others.
• should contain non-alphanumeric characters eg. & , . / ; ' % # etc.

A good method of selecting a password is to use the beginning letters of a phrase, and put punctuation in it. That way you will remember it, and you will not have to write it down.

For example: Ilegeah! for "I like eating green eggs and ham!".

Keep in mind that a system only knows you via your account password. Anyone who captures your password has whatever system privileges and access to data that you do. The vast majority of system penetrations occur through carelessness or through trickery. Never run any program whose origin you are not absolutely certain - in addition to doing what it purports, it could also silently make a way for someone to masquerade as you and gain access to the system using your account. You should never go away and leave a logged-in terminal.

You should change your password before the end of each semester as passwords expire after 6 months. It is highly recommended that you change your password before it expires as once your password has expired you will be unable to log in. You will then have to contact the Campus Support Officer (see below) and ask to have your password changed (please bring your student ID card with you).To change your password, go to the Support Tools page on the School's web site at http://www.scm.uws.edu.au/support/

Campus Support Officers

Immediate technical support for the equipment used by the School is provided by Campus Support Officers (one per campus - yes, they are very busy people!). The Campus Support Officers can be found in room 26.2.14 at Campbelltown, room Y2-13 at Penrith and room ECG-53 at Parramatta. If the Campus Support Office is not in their office, they can be contacted via the School's "Help Point" phones located near the School's student laser printers (outside 17.1.44 at Campbelltown, near ECG-19 at Parramatta and opposite Y2-28 at Penrith). Please note: The Campus Support Officers will endevour to assist you as quickly as possible, however they do have to prioritise their work. This means that they might not be able to help you straight away, as a more urgent matter may need their attention. You can help minimise the load on the Campus Support Officers by trying to assist yourself by reading the School's online documentation ( http://www.scm.uws.edu.au/docs/) and by using the School's support tools (i http://www.scm.uws.edu.au/support/)

Please also note that the School's Campus Support Officers cannot answer questions about the systems provided by the Information Technology Directorate (this includes email passwords and access to ITD laboratories!)

Rules and Guidelines on the use of Computing and Network Facilities At UWS

Every student who uses the University's computing facilities must read https://myuwsaccount.uws.edu.au/termsOfUse.asp?source=link, as this explains what is considered unacceptable behaviour whilst using the University computers. Penalties for breaching these rules can be quite severe (including suspension from University for up to three semesters!).