University College London
Computer Science Department

Minutes of the SSCC meeting on December 11th 1997

Natalie May/Graham Knight

Attendance List

NM to supply

1. Apologies for absence

None

2. Minutes of meeting held on November 13th 1996

The minutes were approved

3. Matters Arising

None

4. Printing Facilities

MRes students (DB) reported that the printer in B03 was there physically but there was no spooler. This had been reported some time ago. DT will look at the problem "this afternoon". DB pointed out that the printer would need to be supplied with enough paper at the end of the working day to cater for evening usage. This would be arranged. The MSc students requested an increased printer quota. They pointed out that extra demand was generated by the need to print notes and slides from the WWW. There was some discussion of this. GK mentioned that the policy was that WWW material was mainly for reference and students should not normally print all of it nor should lecturers require students to do so. GK would ensure staff were aware of the policy. There was a request that students should be allowed to buy extra quota. This was generally supported. SRW would look into a mechanism

5. Plans for MSci degree programmes starting next year.

The plans were outlined by GK and JW. It was noted that there would be some difficulty for students taking a year out who would have to join a year group with a different background. Resits would not cause problems (for students) as these were always set on the original syllabus.

It would not be possible for existing students to transfer to MSci.

There was an informal show of hands which suggested that about 50% of the students present would have been interested in taking a four year course.

6. Laboratory opening times for MSc students

The issue was raised by the MSc CS and IT reps who pointed out that 90 students were competing for 18 m/cs. It was pointed out that the IT students did have facilities in EE. Programming was said to be a natural evening activity so the truncated hours were especially awkward.

DB said that the MRes students already had extended opening hours and that they would like these extended to the weekend. The specialised nature of their course meant that they had more need than most for extended screen access.

The undergraduate reps supported the case of the MSc groups.

SRW re-iterated that the issue was not in the Departments' hands. There were health and safety and insurance issues involved and the College tended to be inflexible. He said the department was investigating whether the "designated persons" scheme could be extended but said that we were hampered both by lack of money and lack of volunteers. All volunteers must make a first-aid certificate and must have an employment contract of at least 12 months.

The situation of MRes students was ambiguous as they were part "taught" and part "research".

SRW would continue to press the College on the issue.

7. Access to NTwin for 1st year students

Whilst the experimental service had been available to students it had proved very popular. It was pointed out that it was very difficult to book time with ISD and their software was not up-to-date.

SRW said that the situation was under review and that Graham Roberts was chairing a committee looking at the future provision of computer services within the department. He noted that earlier discussions had pointed up the need for additional Unix seats. If our systems were increasingly used for NT access there would be even more pressure on Unix seats. There were, in fact, no licencing problems with NTwin though there were systems problems. The biggest priority was simply to provide more machines - even this was difficult as the Department was short of space in which to put m/cs.

It was suggested that the Department could free funds by withdrawing finance from ISD. SRW said this was not possible.

It was pointed out that Netscape4 had HTML editing facilities which satisfied a basic WP requirement on Unix.

8. The student common room

GK recounted the recent history and drew attention to the working party report on the WWW. (http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/teaching/ug/sscc/comrep1.htm). There seemed to be no hope in the near future of moving the common room to somewhere more accessible nor of installing coffer-making facilities.
It was suggested that m/cs should be put in the common room. However, last year's surveys suggested this would not be popular.
GK had suggested installing magazine racks and would follow this up. We should at least ensure the room is always unlocked - sometimes the cleaners lock it.

9. Purchasing system for library books

"Standard" texts recommended for courses were not always available from the library. GK said that policy was that they should be available and would chase this up in conjunction with the Departmental Library rep (ML) The department welcomed suggestions for book purchase. These should include FULL publication details and should be made initially via tutors.

6. Any other business

6.1 Course assessment forms

NM said that the summaries would be put on the WWW Opinion was divided on whether mid-tear or end-of-year assessment was best. There seemed to be little evidence that feed-back from mid-year assessments changed anything very much.

SRW stated that he reviewed all assessment forms and would take appropriate action.

Some assessments had not been completed. This would be chased.

6.2 Coursework deadlines

There were requests for better co-ordination between modules to avoid peaks. It was pointed out that this was really impossible to achieve when there were many options as in the undergraduate programme.

Some relief might be possible provided potential problems were identified early enough. Student reps should have a role in this.

7. Date of next meeting:

To be announced.