Need a PDF viewer?
Website designed by:
 |
|
|
|
Students' Resources: English Resource Center
Domitila Domenech-Belaval Audio Visual Resource Center
Audio Visual Resource Center: Policies and procedures
|
 |
The Audio Visual Resource Center of the English Department opened in 1957 as a language laboratory. Since then, the center has significantly expanded services and now provides all of the audiovisual and technological support of the undergraduate and graduate programs of the department. In addition, the center provides services to other programs at UPR. The center is primarily concerned with the development of English language skills. With this goal in mind, the center provides spaces, staff, and resources to help students develop their written and spoken English skills.
English Resource Center Director:
Dr. R. Anthony (Tony) Slagle |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Language Laboratory
|
|
The lab runs the audiovisual exercises that complement the classroom teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL). The ESL Coordinator orders all pertinent material for lab sessions. Students registered in ESL courses (English 3031-32, 3041-42, 3051-52, 3071-72) must attend their scheduled lab periods and must comply with the regulations governing the center. Regular laboratory periods run Monday through Saturday. “Make-up” labs must be completed according to the schedule that is posted in the Language Laboratory. |
|
The computers in the Language Laboratory are for the sole use of scheduled
activities; they are not for general use. Faculty and students who need to use a computer should use the Computer Room (if available) or one of the walk-in labs on campus. No eating, drinking, or smoking is allowed in the Language Laboratory. The regulations governing the Language Laboratory are subject to change. The technicians will notify students of any changes in the rules and procedures. |
|
Joseph Ferri Screening Room
|
|
The Screening Room is a facility used for the projection of films and documentaries of the over-800 titles that the center houses (in VHS or DVD format). Instructors who want to use the Screening Room must reserve it ahead of time. We recommend making reservations as early in the semester as possible. Reservations can be made by speaking with one of the technicians.
|
|
Film and Screenwriting courses (such as English 3220, 4039, 4055, 4265, 6067, 6515) are the only courses that may be assigned to this room for regular class sessions (and only after 2:30 p.m.). Other courses that use films as primary texts may be scheduled in this room if the professor submits a written request and justification to the director of the center but, again, only if the course has been programmed for late afternoon sessions (after 2:30 p.m).
All other courses may arrange up to 6 sessions of their class meetings per semester for screenings. Unsupervised groups are NOT allowed in the Screening Room.
The Screening Room is not a “meeting room.” Professors should not rely on the Screening Room to hold meetings for any purpose. Exceptions to this may be granted by the Resource Center director.
Instructors should accompany their students or get someone (who must sign in with a technician) to attend the screening session. Instructors are responsible for policing and managing materials and audiovisual equipment while using the room. Instructors who allow students to bring food and drink into the Screening Room are responsible for making certain that all trash is removed. It is important to keep this room clean for other users. In addition, faculty are responsible for putting materials away and making certain that the room is left in order (e.g. putting desks back into rows if they have been moved).
When a film is being screened, the doors to the hallway and to the technicians''director's offices must be kept closed. Users of the facility are asked to respect the fact that the technicians and director work in this area.
The lab technicians will not open the Screening Room unless it has been scheduled in advance.
During the hours that the center is open, the technicians must be notified when a class is done using the room so that they can secure the room.
Instructors who have reserved the Screening Room for after hours can make arrangements to get a film before the center’s closing time. Keys must be picked up at the center before 4:30 p.m., and instructors must sign a responsibility control sheet. After screening sessions, instructors are responsible for shutting off the equipment and lights, for securing the room before leaving, and for returning the keys to the Resource Center in the morning of the next working day. Instructors who fail to fulfill these responsibilities will forfeit their right to use the room for the remainder of the semester.
The center’s collection of film materials is solely for pedagogical purposes and on-campus use. Professors may review material by asking to borrow them for home viewing (no more than two titles may be signed out at once). Home reviewing of non-reserved material can be done overnight or over a weekend (from Friday afternoon through Monday before noon). All borrowed material, whether for classroom or home use, MUST be returned promptly; compliance with the date/hour indicated on the sign-out sheet is a must. Failure to return videos promptly will lead to a loss of borrowing rights. An instructor may reserve titles for independent student viewing, but these cannot be borrowed for off-campus use. Students may make arrangements to see assigned film material on an individual basis in the center.
The center welcomes donations of feature films or documentaries in any format. Special requests for purchases may be made through the Resource Center director.
|
|
Computer Room
|
|
The Computer Room was funded for the sole purpose of being a teaching lab for non-ESL courses. It is not a walk-in facility. The Faculty of Humanities houses a walk-in computer center within the J. E. Gonzalez Seminario Multidisciplinario for general duties such as e-mail, paper writing, research, etc. Our computer room primarily services writing classes to assigned instructors who wish to hold class sessions for exercises within a network environment. It also services English Department faculty and graduate students for academic tasks only and on an availability basis. Instructors may arrange up to 6 sessions of their class meetings in this room each semester (depending on demand, exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis). Graduate students have the highest priority on Fridays and Saturdays.
The Computer Room may not be used outside the center’s regular hours.
All users, including faculty, must check with one of the technicians before using a computer. It is expected that any person who uses the room has basic computer knowledge and is familiar with the programs needed. All users must end their working sessions at least 15 minutes before closing time.
No unsupervised class sessions or undergraduate students are allowed. Instructors are responsible for their students’ good management of the computers and the Resource Center’s facilities. No web-navigating, chats, or e-mail writing is allowed unless such is a task assigned by the professor.
Users must sign a request form for the use of a program or CD.
Programs that have sound components must be used with headphones. For word processing, users must bring their own virus-free storage medium; no work should be saved on the hard drive. Writing on or tampering with the system’s hard disk is strictly prohibited. No material should be downloaded, configured, or modified on any of the machines (e.g. desktop arrangements, printer defaults, sound, background, etc.).
The use of the laser printer must be authorized by one of the technicians or the Resource Center Director. Faculty may use the laser printer to make one copy of a document. Additional copies should be made on the English Department photocopy machine.
Instructors must obtain authorization from the Resource Center Director in order for students to print during class sessions, and instructors must bring their own paper.
Users should not troubleshoot. If problems arise with any of the machines, one of the technicians should be alerted immediately.
Note:
Eating, drinking, and smoking in this room are strictly prohibited.
|
|
| |
|
Media Collection and Audiovisual Equipment for Classroom Use
|
|
| |
 |
|
The Resource Center houses CD players, tape recorders, and movable carts with TVs and DVD or VHS players. These may be signed out for use in the classroom. The technicians will transport TV carts only if more than one technician is available in the center (off hours: Friday noon-2:00 p.m, and all day on Saturday). During off hours, instructors must transport equipment themselves. |
In recent years, requests for the use of televisions with DVD or VCR has far exceeded our existing capabilities. This includes the use of the Screening Room facilities, the use of the Computer Room as an “alternate” Screening Room, and the use of the television that is stored in the Dean’s office. In order to accommodate as many faculty as possible, it is necessary for us to restrict the number of times that such equipment can be used. In general, this equipment may be reserved up to six times total per section. (In other words, an instructor may not reserve the Screening Room for six sessions, and then reserve the TV/VCR combo in the Dean’s office for an additional six sessions.) Courses in which film is used as a primary text, and intensive ESL courses that are not already scheduled in SGG 024 are exceptions to this rule. Other exceptions may be made based on availability, but only if the instructor provides a written request and justification to the Resource Center Director.
Instructors should reserve transportable equipment in advance to ensure availability and must return the equipment promptly. If the equipment is not returned promptly, the instructor will forfeit his/her right to sign out equipment for the rest of the semester.
Instructors MUST sign an equipment loan sheet making them responsible for the policing and management of the equipment. They may come with a student and co-sign if their intention is that the student will return the equipment at the end of the class session. A student cannot request equipment in the professor’s name.
Reservations for the TV/VCR combo in the Dean’s office must be made with the lab technicians (The Dean's office secretary no longer takes these reservations).
All machines must be treated gently; they are not heavy-duty commercial models. Repairs or replacements usually take a very long time. Equipment that malfunctions while being used in the classroom can be checked by one of our technicians, except during off-hours. All equipment must be returned in clean condition.
Any equipment that has been stolen should be reported to the department or center director immediately. Instructors are also responsible for filing a report with the campus police.
|
|
Other Services
|
|
The Resource Center is open to serve not only the needs of the English Department, but those of the university community as well. Fridays are usually reserved for the screening of foreign films for students and faculty of the Department of Languages. Special meetings, screenings, or examination sessions may be arranged and scheduled with the Resource Center technicians. |
|
Hours of operation |
|
| Monday-Thursday |
7:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. |
| Friday |
8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. |
| Saturday |
8:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M. & 1:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M. |
Revised December 2005
|
|
| |
 |
Last update:
December 15, 2007 17:09 |
|
|
|
