Math Lab Manager Duties

Oversee Computer Lab Student Staff:

• Hire, train, observe and correct lab monitor staff
• Help out, advise, back up (monitors report many problems they can't fix, or don't realize they can fix)
• Make sure they show up; handle absences and substitutions
• Substitute for them if necessary, especially at change of shift
• Distribute and collect keys to the cabinet
• Distribute and collect pay sheets, check them, pass on to Ruth
• Keep training handbook up to date
• Inform them of news through notes or email

Facilitate Online classes:

• weekly lab meeting times must be set aside;
• physical bulletin board lists for all online classes;
• Weekly update of physical bulletin boards to display current test;
• Publicize TA office hours;
• Add links in lab home page, and shortcuts on Launcher or Desktop, to access online class homepages and EDU;
• Develop, distribute, gather and analyze course surveys;
• Create dummy student accounts in all classes, take exams, check posted links and material;
• Make sure course policies are listed, and are clear; post copies and make monitors aware of them; (some exams can be repeated; some exams can use a calculator, some exams have deadlines)

Assist Faculty and Graduate Student Instructors:

• Schedule occasional or regular lab sessions for particular classes;
• Ensure the lab is ready for a class, help out if necessary;
• Add appropriate software shortcuts to Launcher, and links on lab web page;
• Develop, modify, and extend question banks, and install quizzes for some classes (eg, Math 166);
• Find or develop useful software demos in Matlab or Mathematica (for things like numerical integration)

Assist Students:

• Be the central receiver of complaints, problems, questions;
• Explain course policies;
• Explain wording of exam questions, and required syntax of answers;
• Help out when students run out of time, or the computer crashes;
• Witness and report computer anomalies that occur;
• Handle reports of cheating or inappropriate behavior;
• Help with simple software questions in ALEKS, Matlab, Mathematica, Excel;
• Have current textbooks available in bookcase;

Software:

• Browsers our most heavily used software!
  • Keep Explorer up to date
  • Leave Netscape stuck at 4.79
  • Only ALEKS option is 4.x version of Netscape!
  • Recent versions of Netscape do not handle bookmarks correctly.
  • Both browsers have caches, which we have kept to zero to avoid problems with EDU.
• Mathematica & Matlab
  • write short usage guides
  • make reference books available
  • add shortcuts
  • set up local features (Add "User" disk to Matlab search path)
  • simple troubleshooting (Mathematica preferences get scrambled)
  • reinstall or upgrade as necessary
• Microsoft Office (Word and Excel)
  • used by Math 150, Math 181, Math 182
• TI GraphLink
  • Leslie Hogben's classes use this
  • software kept up to date
  • need more cables;
  • need to get PC version
• ALEKS
  • Math 10, Math 150
  • runs through browser, so just need to be sure that's compatible
• SCOUT
  • University software distribution and update system
  • Used now for JMP and VIREX
  • Not used for FETCH (we got a better version)
  • Not used for EXPLORER (we got a more recent version)
  • Not used for NETSCAPE (we want to maintain 4.79 for now)
• Students install AOL or MSN messenger software, but we don't want it there (cheating temptation), so we need to uninstall it when we see it;

Atmosphere:

• Keep the lab quiet (post signs, speak to loud talkers)
• Keep an eye on the lab temperature
• Keep the lab clean
• Keep the chairs pushed in
• Keep current textbooks in bookcase
• Track down students belonging to lost and found disks and other items with a student name on them, through online phone list

Planning:

• Work with department to order small scale items
• Prepare proposals to LAS for major equipment funding;
• Plan conversion from Macintosh to PC;
• Figure out a way to enforce printing quotas;

Maintenance:

• have floors swept when really nasty;
• Clean monitor screens
• Clean mice inside and out (even the optical ones get dirty)
• Try to control the dust which piles up everywhere
• Keep scratch paper box filled
• Empty trash cans
• Empty recycle bins

Hardware:

• Macintosh Computers
  • Machines occasionally have to be rebooted the hard way
  • PROM occasionally has to be reset
  • Desktop rebuilt
  • Disk First Aid to check and repair disk
  • Virex to check for viruses
• Macintosh Monitors
  • G3 monitor adapters get disconnected
  • Users frequently reset screen size, reset it back to 832 x 600(?)
• Lab Printers
  • keep lab supplied with paper
  • replace toner
  • fix jams
  • "restart" printers as necessary
  • Enforce printing quotas (10 pages or less, please) by posting signs and berating violators;
• Overhead projectors and display
  • Report burnt out bulbs, dead batteries, bad focus;
  • bug ITC to give us a new model;
• Graphlink Cables
  • Keep them off the floor
• Calculators
  • Students can check them out for exams
  • Make sure they are labeled "MATH DEPARTMENT", and batteries work
• Headsets
  • Useful for certain courses with recorded lectures