Texas A&M University Graduate Catalog

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Resources for Students

Computing Resources

Students enjoy a rich computing environment at Texas A&M University. All students have full access to the Internet, email, personal Web pages and computer labs. Resources range from hundreds of microcomputers to multi-user systems to supercomputers. Campus offices, labs and libraries have Ethernet connections and off-campus access is supported by university dial-up access and by high-speed connections to Internet service providers. Help is available around the clock, and free short courses on computing topics are offered throughout the year.

Email accounts can be set up for viewing on a student’s own computer whether at home, in their apartment, or online at any of the computer labs. A Web server is provided for students to create personal Web pages. Many classes provide online information and communication using the WebCT course management system.

Access to the Internet is also part of each student’s resources. The university’s network is connected directly to the Internet via a Gigabit per second connection. Texas A&M is a member of and connected to Internet2’s high-speed Abilene network and the Lonestar Education and Research Network’s (LEARN’s) high-speed, fiber optic network. There are over 35,000 computers connected to the campus computer network, ranging from departmental microcomputers to the university’s supercomputers.

For those living off-campus, Texas A&M provides dial-up access to the Internet through a modem bank of over 1,100 56K V.90 modems. Texas A&M’s Computing and Information Services (CIS) department also offers virtual private network (VPN) service and support for high-speed cable and digital subscriber line (DSL) access. Wireless Internet access is available at numerous campus locations including libraries, CIS Open Access Labs and campus dining facilities. For more information about connecting to the TAMU network and Internet access, visit http://net.tamu.edu/.

There are also seven generally accessible computing facilities located around the campus. The 1,300 microcomputers in these Open Access Lab facilities are open to all Texas A&M students and provide a variety of resources including black and white and color printers, graphics equipment, scanners, film recorders and CD/DVD burners. Facility locations, equipment, hours and usage are posted on the Open Access Lab Web site at http://oalinfo.tamu.edu/.

Students have easy access to support for computing issues. There are fully staffed help desks located in each of the Open Access Labs, and CIS Help Desk Central at (979) 845-8300 provides students with 24-hour a day telephone support.

Each semester, CIS employees teach free short courses, with topics ranging from Word and PowerPoint to SAS and UNIX. Classes are free, but pre-registration is required. Course descriptions and schedules are available on-line at http://cis.tamu.edu/shortcourses/.

Some students may need specialized resources. Along with supporting Windows and Macintosh platforms, Texas A&M offers multi-user and mainframe systems that are primarily UNIX-based. Texas A&M also provides adaptive technology support resources for students with disabilities including textbook scanning, adaptive software, specialty hardware and equipment training.

The CIS Supercomputing Facility aids faculty and students involved in large-scale computation. Its computational infrastructure includes not only a staff of expert analysts, but also high-performance systems including a 128-processor SGI Altix, a 32-processor IBM Regatta, and a 64-processor SGI Origin 3800. More information, including obtaining and setting up accounts, can be found at the Supercomputing Web site at http://sc.tamu.edu/.

In addition to generally accessible resources, there are many departmental computing systems providing support to particular groups of users. These include local area networks, microcomputers and several hundred high-performance workstations. There are also a variety of other plotters, scanners, film recorders and video capture devices available on campus. Almost all of these resources are connected to the campus-wide network.

For more information contact:

Computing & Information Services (CIS)
104 Teague Building
Help Desk Central: (979) 845-8300
E-mail: helpdesk@tamu.edu
Web site: http://cis.tamu.edu/