Robin Hirsch (RH) opened the meeting by announcing that there was a very full agenda and requested any additional items of any other business to be announced at the beginning of the meeting. Mark Delacour (MD)raised the matters of more computers in the labs, longer hours of access, more up to date PC?s, use of certain programs; and people using games on UNIX machines whilst students were trying to work. The lack of floppy disc drive access in the third year labs was also raised, and accessing Departmental web pages at home.
1). Apologies for absence: John Washbrook
2). The minutes of the meeting of 10th February 1999 were approved
3). Matters arising from the last meeting:
Access to lab facilities out of hours
Steve Wilbur (SW) advised that there was no point raising matters continually when the position had been made on numerous occasions. The late access was not available as there needed to be trained UCL first aiders on hand, and that opening was also affected by the College insurance policy which could not be renegotiated, Bernard Buxton (BB) said that the restrictions on access are mentioned to prospective students on UCAS open days. RH closed further discussion.
4). Proposal to change constitution: RH asked the meeting to agree a change to the constitution to allow for separate representatives for MRes, MSc VIVE and graduate research student representatives. This was agreed.
5). Undergraduate Issues
i) 1B14 double slot
The break in the double slot for 1B14 has been extended to 15 minutes
ii) Halls of residence networking
SW understood that there is a difficulty in providing lines to halls of residence, and that halls are now a business and they make the decisions on what facilities to provide., advised that those affected should make representations to the Wardens and if they are not satisfied to write to the Dean of students Professor John Forman. Action: student reps to encourage those affected to write to the Wardens.
iii) Computer access in the student common room
The matter of computer access in the common room had been raised previously, the Common room was meant to be a quiet area away from computer keyboard noise. Raphael Carbonell (RC) said there was no technical problem in providing access. RH asked for views, MD suggested a bigger common room and more computers in the labs, Dimitrios Perperidis (DP) said the common room should remain a quiet area. RH suggested that the matter be discussed by a more representative group than those present at the meeting and moved on. Action: students reps to seek views to reach a consensus
iv) Overcrowding in undergraduate labs
Mark Delacour (MD) raised the difficulty of finding a PC in the lab even when there was supposed to be priority access. There is no more physical space for more PC?s, and maximum occupancy of the labs is determined by the Fire Officer. There are 8 lap top points in B10 and it was felt that PC points are more useful as anyone can use a PC whereas only relatively few students have laptops. Peter Rounce suggested monitoring lap top use, and RH agreed that monitoring ought to take place before any action is taken. Action: Technical support group
v) Coursework deadlines
Rajender Bakhshi raised the coursework for 1B10 and the combined effect of close deadlines. Graham Roberts (GAR) stated that students simply had to realise that there is a lot of coursework, there was a deadline planner in the Departmental Office. Action: RH to liaise with JJ to look into deadlines.
vi)Returning exam scripts
Raised by Amir Mahdavi. It is a regulation of the University of London that exam papers are not returned to students, additionally model answers have not ever been made available to students.
vii) Access to labs
SW suggested asking Nick Turpin to check that labs are unlocked at the start of the day, this is apparently a matter that concerns when the cleaners have finished their work. Action: JH to advise NT.
viii) Access to CS network from College machines
The question of lack of computers in the second year labs had been covered by item 5iv; additionally Bryn Reeves asked about accessing CS data from College (ISD) machines. Barry Stein (BS) said that CS can be accessed via Telnet or Exceed. PR suggested creating a web page giving details of the advice available from the ISD helpdesk, as not all students are aware. Action: JH advise Graham Knight of the request
ix) Lockers
There is no space for lockers within the department (SW) and those throughout College have been removed, there is a cloakroom in the South Cloisters which it was suggested could be used
x)MACS coursework load
Dushanee Selvaratnam raised the problem of coursework loads for MACS students due to the 14-10 distribution of lectures. RH suggested that it would be difficult to co-ordinate the coursework deadlines between the two departments, GAR thought the lecture load should be a one off due to a lecturer on sabbatical.
6). DCNDS issues were raised by Nalini Mahadeo (NH)
i) Access to labs
Was discussed previously and Action:NH was advised to discuss separately with Stephen Hailes (SH).
ii) Coursework structure
A shorter fixed time for the completion of ZO1 was requested as the time taken to do was leading to students neglecting other work. SH said that it was the first time the course had been run this way and there will be a review where all these points would be considered. RH recommended waiting for the review. Action: SH
iii) ZO3 Content
The content of ZO3 will be reduced and again this will be included in the review. Action: SH
iv) Installation of drinks machine
SW stated that the Department limited options for installing of drink vending machines, Jill Saunders (JFS) will investigate the possibility of getting another coffee machine for the student caffeine addicts Action: JFS
7) MRes Issues raised by Dimitrios Perperidis
I) PC?s with disk drives
DP requested that a machine with a disk drive to copy files be made available in the labs as the students are often in the labs until 9-9.30pm and the labs with disk drive machines are closed at 7pm. The same situation applies to the 3rd years. BB thought this a reasonable request. Action: Technical support group
ii) coffee machine and iii) access to labs were discussed earlier
iv) More PC?s in MRes lab
There would be space for one more machine to be placed in the MRes lab, SW said that more space would be available by Easter and will look into whether a general easement can be provided.
v) Vacating labs in the evening
Security guards did not have a set time to ask students to vacate rooms, they did so on their rounds, and students were urged to cooperate or they could demand a 7pm vacation of the premises.
8) MSc CS issues raised by Judy Cheung
i) Lockers,
This item was discussed earlier
ii) Anti glare screens
Screen for PC?s were a health and safety requirement and the Dept would see what was feasible to provide. Action: Technical support group
iii) Java book provisions
More Java books in the library were requested. Action: JH to advise Mark Levene
iv) Coffee machine
Covered earlier
9) Nomination for Distinguished Teacher of the Year
The Faculty would be asking for nominations for the Distinguished teacher of the year award. RH proposed students email him with suggestions
10) Internal Quality Audit Feedback
JFS thanked the students who participated in the Internal quality audit process in February 1999, the IQA team were quite impressed and their feedback was positive. Student feedback from fora such as this is taken seriously. BB suggested that the minutes be circulated more quickly. Action: JH
11) Announcements
JFS said that there should be no food or drink in the labs ever. BS also reiterated that the lab machines should never be rebooted. RH suggested an email to emphasise this even though it is in the message of the day, Chris Clack proposed putting up posters to reinforce the message. Action: Technical support group
12) Any other business
Matters not covered by items on the agenda were raised. i)Removal of outdated machines MD asked that old Classics machines be replaced as noone uses them, and raised the response rate of some machines which is probably a network problem.
ii)Swipe card access for students Swipe card access for students was raised and SW advised that students were not given such access, these were matters in the hands of College Security.
iii) Telnet security Security matters were raised by Michael Rogers (MR) as it is easy to obtain password details whilst using Telnet. SW stated that student should not be using College machines to play games on and if they were they should be reported.
iv)Access to world wide web pages from home was raised as some pages are password protected, the C346 page was given as an example. The purpose of this was to protect UCL?s intellectual property and if people mirrored sites then this was unlawful.
13) Date of next meeting Spring 2000 date to be arranged
Robin closed the meeting and thanked those present for attending.