Academic Computing Facility Policies

The mission of the College of ACES Academic Computing Facility is to provide an optimal educational computing environment. This is accomplished by continually improving the quality of the laboratory environment and providing access for College courses and individual access for students, staff, and faculty within the College.

The following policies provide guidelines which enable the accomplishment of this mission.

Lab Use Policy

Students, faculty, and staff of the College of ACES, as well as any other students enrolled in College of ACES classes, are welcome to use labs during open hours, as shown on the Hours of Operation page. Those outside the College may use the facility as space permits. Users will be required to leave at building close or will be considered trespassing.

  • Food and Drink Policy

    No food is allowed in the ACES Academic Computing facility at any time. The only acceptable item are drinks in a closed container. Chairs and vending machines are located immediatly outside of the ACF and on the first floor of LIAC.
  • Student Help Desk Attendants

    Student help desk attendants are available to maintain hardware and software and to assist lab users as much as possible. However, attendants may not be familiar with every software package that the facility provides.
  • Checking Out Materials

    An iCard is required in order to check out any lab materials for use while at the facility.

Instructional Lab Reservations

Classroom reservation and room approval for College of ACES Classes

Faculty and staff affiliated with the College of ACES may make reservations for use of the four instructional labs – rooms 022, 023, 029, and 030 – in the facility with no charge. Each of the four labs holds 30 students. Rooms 029 and 030 may be joined for dual classes of up to 60 students. The computers in all four ACF labs will accommodate those wishing to use Windows. Room 024 is considered the general/common area and contains 28 computers as well as empty desks. This room is not available for reservation. Labs are intended for use by groups that actually need to use computers, not those who just need a space to meet or access to projection equipment.

We reserve the right to move a class or group into a room other than that which they have requested. If there are two labs available, we may rearrange classes in order to accommodate a dual class in rooms 029 and 030. If there are not two labs open during a given time period, the dual class will not be able to meet at that time.

Reservation requests must be filed at least two weeks prior to the start of the semester. Single-event, tentative, and non-course reservations will be approved after that deadline.

For summer classes (term 1 or term 2) to be guaranteed, reservation requests must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the end of the spring semester. Single-event, tentative, and non-course reservations will be approved after that deadline.

To make a reservation for use of the Academic Computing Facility, visit our Scheduling page. This will guide you through the process of requesting a reservation via the web.

For Non-College of ACES Classes

Instructors not affiliated with the College of ACES may make reservations for the use of the teaching labs at the cost of $50/hr (rounded to the nearest hour). Classes that are cross-listed with a College of ACES class will not be charged. ACES affiliated classes take precedence over others; we reserve the right to cancel a non-ACES class in order to make space for an ACES class. 

For Events

The instructional labs are also available for events other than class.  Official College of ACES events can be scheduled at no cost.  Campus conferences and events with other groups can reserve the labs at the cost of $50/hr. Non-campus requests will be charged at a higher rate.

For Student Groups and RSOs

These groups have two options available for the use of the instructional labs.  They may schedule and pay for a lab as any other group with an event would.  Students may also use a lab for group work per our group work policy (see below). If the group is over 15+ people and/or the projector needs to be used, then a reservation must first be made and is subject to the fees below.

Summary of Usage charges and fees*

  • The ACES Academic Computing Facility is funded by the College of ACES for academic purposes; ACES courses meeting during normal ACF open hours will not be charged.
  • On-campus, non-ACES courses are currently charged at a rate of $50/hour per room. Non-campus requests will be charged at a higher rate.
  • Classes that are cross-listed with an ACES class will not be charged.
  • ACES faculty teaching ACES students or staff content that is not specifically course-related, but is related to academics, will not be charged.
  • In most cases, Extension, as an adjunct of ACES, will not be charged if their session occurs during ACF open hours.  They may be charged if the audience is not ACES/Extension related or if they are charging the audience to attend (4-H is part of Extension).
  • Use by ACES administration, e.g. training on software for a group of ACES people, will not be charged.
  • Student organizations will be charged for use at the $50/hour per room rate.  If a faculty member or TA is present and the content is ACES oriented, the charge may be waived.

*Depending on the sophistication of software setup required, an hourly setup fee may be levied, even for groups that are permitted to use an ACF instructional lab without charge.

Order of precedence

  • Requests for full-semester ACES courses that have been submitted prior to the deadline take precedence.  Eight week courses are treated the same as full semester courses.  These are approved in order of receipt.
  • All others will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • Single-event, tentative, and non-course reservations will not be approved until after the deadline for full-semester courses.

Group Work Policy

Student groups (ie. non-RSO) may be allowed to use the four instructional labs (Rooms 022, 023, 029, 030) for group work related to class. Students in a lab room for group work will not be allowed to use the instructor station or any of the projector capabilities unless a reservation request is made and approved.  Students will only be allowed to use the machines, as they would if they were in the general lab area.  The reason for allowing students into a room for group work is to provide a place where the students can talk about their work without disturbing users in the general lab.  These groups will be allowed in on a first come first serve basis.


Software Copyrights

Use of software within the College of ACES Academic Computing Facility shall adhere to all U.S. copyright laws, as well as University of Illinois policy. Software provided by the facility has appropriate licensing, which is maintained by the Network Administrator.

It is the policy of this facility that no copyrighted software may be added to or copied from the network drive by any user. Short term installation of instructional software will take place at the discretion of the Network Administrator. Please allow at least three weeks for installation and testing. In addition, proof of appropriate licensing must be provided.

Software requests may be made by visiting the Services page.