Opening Your Shift

If you are on the first shift of the day, follow the procedures for unlocking the rooms and deactivating the alarm.

All Proctors starting their shifts should go through the following checklist:

1. If opening the lab/room for the day, deactivate the alarm and turn on the projector.
2. Check the computers to see if there are any obvious problems with them.
3. Log into a computer and check intranet.cwrl.utexas.edu to see if there are any messages about problems in your room(s) that Hampton is attempting to fix. Send any new concerns to support@support.cwrl.utexas.edu.
4. Check the OTRS system to see if there are any problems you need to address under the Proctor Queue. If you need help, please consult our guide to the OTRS system.
5. Make a sweep of the room (and the classrooms, if you are proctoring in one of the Classroom Stations) for garbage, lost items, and general disarray. Put the chairs back under the tables or workstations where they belong. Erase whiteboards if they have old messages or notes on them.

Monitoring Computer Use

These instructions are primarily for Proctors in the Parlin 104a Multimedia Lab, since the other rooms seldom have open hours that fill. For the multimedia station in Parlin 104a, see multimedia station reservations. For all other computers, see below:

1. If there are people waiting for computers, or if students seem to be coming into the room and leaving because there are no free machines, be sure to start a waiting list. Include the user's name, reason for needing the computer, which platform s/he needs, and time arrived. When a computer becomes available, call for the person with the highest priority who has been waiting the longest. Priorities for Parlin 102 Computers are:
1. Officially scheduled events (scheduled workshops, demos, or meetings)
2. CWRL staffers currently proctoring
3. Students in CWRL courses doing work that requires Multimedia Lab equipment (e.g., digitizing video, sound editing, desktop publishing)
4. CWRL instructors preparing for classes within next hour
5. CWRL staff working on CWRL Projects
6. CWRL instructors preparing classes
7. Students in CWRL courses
8. CWRL, DRW, and English faculty and staff
2. Check to see whether users on the waiting list have a higher priority for using the computers than people who are already logged in. This may involve going around to users and asking them what they are working on, and asking them to allow someone to use their computer if they are lower on the priority list.
3. If users are generating excessive noise (either in conversation or on their machines), politely ask them to mute their speakers or keep their voices down so that other users can concentrate.

Assisting Users in the Lab

If a user is having a problem with a specific machine in the lab, check the Intranet to see whether someone has already discovered the same problem. If you don't find anything on this problem, and you cannot fix it yourself, please send an e-mail to Hampton via the OTRS at support@support.cwrl.utexas.edu. The OTRS is the main vehicle for recording problems with Lab equipment--please keep Hampton up to date! (Note: for proctors with previous experience in the CWRL, this system replaces the tech log.)

In general, Proctors will find themselves in one of two basic situations, each requiring a different emphasis:

• Proctors in Classroom Stations (FAC 9a and PAR 102/104a): Your primary responsibility is to assist the instructors teaching in the adjoining classrooms. They may need help with malfunctioning computers, projector problems, and the like. They may also ask you to help students with technical issues, so that they may devote their attention to helping students with other problems and questions. Issues frequently needing attention are: damaged diskettes, lost files, computer malfunctions, email clients, and file conversion. Instructors may ask you to help students with certain basic computer tasks they are teaching (e.g., basic HTML, navigating the Web, using Word, etc.); you should be prepared to do so.
• Proctors in Open Labs (PAR 102/104a): Your primary responsibility is to supervise the use of the computers in the lab (see above). Users will alert you to problems they are experiencing, and you will need to do general troubleshooting as much as you can. However, you may also be called upon to help users with various tasks they are working on. Here are some general guidelines for what you should and should not help them with:
• DO help users with features of applications they do not know about. One of our primary goals in the CWRL is to teach users to use the technology better so that they may in turn use the technology to do other work, be it in composition, literature, or some other field. Even if you don't know exactly how to do what they need, you can walk them through the steps you would take. They will probbaly find that process instructive.
• DO talk with students in the terms their courses are using. If the student is in an RHE306K class using the Learning Record Online, for instance, discuss the student's problems with the project by emphasizing the purpose of the document and the medium in which it is written. Thus, you will be able to teach the student about hypertext as well as HTML coding while reinforcing the language the course is using, all without having to make content decisions for the student.
• DON'T take over the keyboard for a user who is asking for assistance with a program. Instead, talk the user through the steps, pointing at the screen when necessary. It is helpful if you don't hover over a user while you offer assistance. Instead, pull up a chair, or at least kneel or bend down next to the user while you talk. Students will feel less intimidated by the experience if they feel as if they are being assisted, not lectured.
• DON'T feel pressured into doing the work for a student who nags you about it. You are not a composition or technology tutor; you are a consultant on technical problems. Sometimes helping a student by showing your knowledge of the course's content is essential to being an effective consultant. But don't allow students to get you to cross the line between consulting on a task and doing a task for them. For example, if a student's HTML file continues not to look the way s/he wants it to, it is not your obligation to troubleshoot the document's tagging. Once you determine that the program in which it is being written is working fine (Macromedia Dreamweaver, for instance), you should refer the student to his/her instructor for help. If the assignment deadline is less than an hour away, that is the student's problem, not yours.

Ending Your Shift

All Proctors ending their shifts should go through the following checklist:

1. Check the computers to see if there are any obvious problems with them. If anyone has left a computer and is not obviously returning, log the user out.
2. Post any problems you find to support@support.cwrl.utexas.edu.
3. Make a sweep of the room (and the classrooms, if you are proctoring in one of the Classroom Stations) for garbage, lost items, and general disarray. Put unused chairs back under the tables or workstations where they belong. Erase whiteboards if they have old messages or notes on them. Make sure the printers have paper in them.

If you are proctoring the last shift of the day, PLEASE make sure the projectors are turned off in each classroom, and make sure you follow the procedures for alarming the classrooms and labs before you leave.