9 October, 2006:

Unfortunately, The School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering does not have the resources to supply each and every one of its 3000+ coursework students with a computer. This means that the coursework laboratories are a shared resource and must be treated as such.

The Student Consultative Committee has identified the problem of Locking Lab PCs (which resurfaces frequently) as one requiring action, so we are again going to be focusing on offenders of this lab rule. To clarify (in case the numerous notices, messages, and conditions of use you signed when being granted access weren't clear enough):

"Locking" or otherwise reserving computers by coursework students in a shared environment, such as the computer laboratories, for longer than it takes to pick up a print job, is an antisocial behaviour and will be treated as such.

Students should not "lock" systems except when picking up print jobs. Students should be aware that any other student can claim a locked machine, simply by entering their own username and password. This logs the previous user off, killing any jobs left running on the "locked" system - by leaving machines locked, you will likely lose any data not saved into your home/group drives.

If you are leaving the lab for any other reason, you must log out of the system. This does not apply in specialised labs such as IT Honours and ELEC 4th Year thesis where common sense and negotiation should negate the need for these measures, or where special arrangements have been made by ITEE Staff with the student-helpdesk for a lab which would ordinarily be unavailable anyway.