Category: Announcements

Winter 2023 End of Term

Here is a schedule of important dates in April for the IAML:

Monday, April 3 through Thursday, April 6: Printing and equipment loans allowed during other classes if you enter quietly via the South Entrance (near the technician’s office). Exception: No printing Wednesday after 14:00.
Friday, April 7 and Monday, April 10: University closed. No services. Card access only.
Tuesday, April 11 and Wednesday, April 12: Access to services is expected to be non-existent during booked classes due to final presentations. If you didn’t print last week, look at the schedule for the gaps between classes (e.g., 09:00-10:00 and 11:30-12:30 Tuesday, 09:00-09:30 and 11:00-13:00 Wednesday).
Starting Thursday, April 13: Computers will be removed in stages from the Small Lab (to make room for replacements). Expect the Small Lab to be closed sometime during the week of April 17. All files will be erased!
Starting Monday, April 24: All student files on the remaining computers will be erased!

Fall Cleanup and Holiday Services

As scheduled classes end for the Fall, we begin preparing the Labs for Winter classes. Here’s your guide to the next few weeks in the IAML:

Deleting Student Files

All user accounts on Lab computers will be deleted starting Thursday, December 15. This includes all files stored on our computers.
All files (other than the assignment drop boxes) on the lab server will be deleted starting Thursday, December 15. The assignment drop boxes will be retained until January 2.

Card Access

Majors in Art, Music, Drama, and Dance will have card access to both Labs until the University is closed (i.e., until the end of the day on December 22).
Anyone who has been granted access to the building during the holiday closure (Dec. 23 – Jan. 1) will still have card access.
Card access for students who were not majors but were enrolled in a Lab class this Fall will have access until December 20.

Services

In-person services are available Monday through Thursday until December 15.
If you need services during the week of December 19, please contact us. Staff will be working on Winter course preparation and may not be available (or on-site) at various times.
Services are scheduled to resume on Monday, January 2. Note that both labs are booked during Block Week (January 3-7 for the Main Lab and January 4-6 in the Small Lab), so access to services will be very limited.

Spring Cleaning

Just like the physical cleanup happening in the building, we will be doing our regular cleanup of files and systems over the next month or so. Here’s what you need to know:

Deleting Student Files

Files stored on the IAML Server will be maintained until April 29. After that date, you should expect any files stored on the server to be deleted.
We expect to erase all the computers in both labs in May or June. After April 29, you should always save a copy of your files elsewhere (e.g., OneDrive, USB stick, emailed to yourself) to avoid loss of your data.

Card Access

Students who had access to the Labs due to a lab class will have their access deleted on May 2. Majors in Art, Music, Drama, and Dance will continue to have card access to the Small Lab during the Spring and Summer and can use the Main Lab when it is open.

Services

The Head Technician will be working from home at times (1-2 days per week) and will also be taking vacation time this Spring/Summer. If you need in-person services, contact us in advance before making a special trip to campus to ensure services are available.

Reading Week is upon us! The University will be closed for the Family Day Holiday on February 21 and the Labs will be “card access only” for most of the week. If you need in-person services on Reading Week, please contact us, otherwise Lab Staff will be mostly working from home.

We expect most classes booked in the Labs to be returning to in-person learning the week of February 28, but please check with your professor/instructor just to make certain what the plan is for your class. We will be providing on-site services on those days where classes are using the Lab(s), likely Monday through Thursday.

End of Term Cleanup and Services

Now that scheduled classes have ended for the Fall, we are in the process of preparing for Winter classes. Here’s your guide to the next few weeks in the IAML (updated 2021-12-21).

Deleting Student Files

All user accounts on Lab computers will be deleted starting Monday, December 20. This includes all files stored on our computers.
All files on the lab server will be deleted on Monday, January 3.

Card Access

Majors in Art, Music, Drama, and Dance will have card access to the Small Lab until the University is closed (i.e., until the end of the day on December 23).
Anyone who has been granted access to the building during the holiday closure (Dec. 24 – Jan. 1) will still have card access.
Card access for students who were not majors but were enrolled in a Lab class this Fall will have access until December 20.

Services

If you need services during the week of December 20, please contact us. Staff are on vacation but may be on campus at times to complete Winter course preparation.
Services are scheduled to resume on Thursday, January 6. (Note: The Block Course originally scheduled to be held in the Main Lab has been cancelled.) Should the University institute a Work from Home order, contact us if you require any in-person services.

We’re Hiring!

The Integrated Arts Media Labs have received funding to hire a student assistant for the Winter 2022 Term. The successful applicant will help provide services and support for lab operations such as photographic printing, equipment loans, troubleshooting computer problems, and general maintenance of the labs. Preference is given to majors in Art, Music, Drama, and/or Dance (graduate or undergraduate). You must be a current UCalgary student to be hired.

To apply (or if you have questions), contact Head Technician Anthony Reimer in person during business hours or via email at iaml [at] ucalgary.ca. Interviews are ongoing. We expect to hire someone on or before December 15.

Fall Break

Fall Break is a chance for students to catch up on their work, and this year it will also be a chance for our technician to catch up on his sleep. Here are the scheduled service hours for the week of November 8:

Monday 08: No services (card access only)
Tuesday 09: 13:30-16:00 (card access at other times)
Wednesday 10: 09:00-16:00 excluding lunch
Thursday 11: University closed (Remembrance Day)
Friday 12: No services (card access only)

Improvements!

While you were off campus, we spent a lot of time (and money!) improving the Integrated Arts Media Labs. Here are the highlights:

Every student station in both labs now has, at minimum, one 27-inch display. In the Main Lab, all student stations have a HiDPI (Retina) display.
We have added 10 Apple Silicon Mac mini computers, mostly in the Main Lab. These will offer great performance for years to come.
The capacity of the Main Lab has been increased to 22 student computers.
The remaining Intel Mac mini computers (all located in the Small Lab) have been upgraded to use an internal 480 GB Solid State Drive (SSD) instead of the original Fusion Drive. This should improve performance on these older machines.
All Lab computers are running Apple’s latest operating system, macOS Big Sur. (The hallway computers will run macOS Catalina until they are replaced.)

Summer Schedule

Access to services will be limited for the remainder of the Summer. Here is the schedule by week (subject to change):

Week of July 26: Closed (staff vacation)
Week of August 2: Closed (University closed August 2, staff vacation other days)
Week of August 9: Staff available by appointment
Week of August 16: Staff available by appointment Monday to Wednesday (staff vacation Thursday and Friday)
Week of August 23: Staff available Thursday (after 10:00) and Friday by appointment (staff vacation Monday through Wednesday)
Week of August 30: Block Week course in Main Lab Tuesday through Thursday (no drop-in access), access to services Monday and Friday by appointment
Week of September 6: University closed Monday (Labour Day). Fall Classes begin Tuesday.

Face Covering Still Required

Irrespective of other campus, city, or provincial guidelines, a face covering will be continue to be required in the Art Building using the Campus Face Coverings Protocol establish originally on 2020 November 24. This means masks must be worn at all times when indoors in the Art Building unless you are in an office, lab, or studio completely by yourself.

At this time, it is expected that this policy will be in place until at least 2021 August 30.