Forms, Policies & Guidelines

The Department of Computer Science has invested considerable money and energy into creating computer labs to meet your academic needs. Hel pus keep the lab a safe, healthy and comfortable working environment for all students.

• Students' Responsibility: Follow the rules. Exercise common sense and courtesy.
• Enforcement: System Administration staff are authorized to enforce lab rules.
• Penalties: Failure to obey instructions may result in account suspension/withdrawal. First time offenders lose privileges for 24 hours. Subsequent offences may result in doubled penalties or heavier penalties where warranted.

Lab Rules:

1. No Food or Drink – Neither are permitted anywhere in the computer labs.
2. Offensive Content – Sending, displaying or posting offensive images, pornography or messages that are offensive, harassing or discriminatory are not permitted. Offences may be further punishable under Ryerson's student conduct guidelines.
3. Noise – Keep noise to a minimum. Respect others’ use of the lab for work and study.
4. Gaming – No game playing in the lab or on lab machines allowed.
5. Private Commercial Activity – Lab privileges are for academic work at Ryerson. Any use of facilities for private commercial activity is prohibited.
6. Account/Password Sharing – Do not use someone else's account or share your password.
7. Files Sharing – Where necessary, ask your instructor to request group access to common files.
8. Unlicensed Software – No installing of illegal software on lab machine or copying lab software. If in doubt, ask a System Administrator.
9. Copyrighted Material – No illegal downloading of protected material allowed. Penalty: Immediate user account suspension.
10. Tampering – Tampering with computer hardware or cabling is an offence. If you detect hardware problems, report it to a system administrator or by e-mail to: request@scs.torontomu.ca.
11. Spamming – Sending unsolicited e-mail to multiple users is prohibited.
12. Unauthorized Access – Attempting to gain access to systems (either inside or outside Ryerson) to which you have not been granted access is prohibited. Activities such as attempting to monitor network traffic, propagating viruses, trojans etc. and maliciously overloading networks or servers are also prohibited. Such offenses may be further punishable under the Criminal Code of Canada.

Questions? Contact the Facilities Coordinator if you have concerns about our lab rules.

This policy has been reviewed and approved by the Secretary of Academic Council as being fully in compliance with the policies of the University.

1. Whereas an unpenalized act of academic misconduct (cheating in its various guises) by a student or group of students harms:
   Other students in a class who are disadvantaged markwise by this behaviour, and
2. The reputation and integrity of the various academic programs taught by CS faculty

Therefore be it resolved:

1. That the Department intends to enforce the Student Conduct Code, as found in the Calendar, the Student Guide, and the University Web Site, to its fullest extent. This includes the following specific Departmental concerns:
2. That the CS Department adopt the principle that any penalty applied against a student for an academic offence (academic misconduct as defined in the Student Code of Conduct) should clearly exceed in magnitude any potential academic gain that student might expect to obtain from the offence. This is akin to the idea that a suitable punishment for a bank robber should exceed simply requiring the robber to return the stolen money. The Department takes the position that cheating in any form is not acceptable behaviour.
3. That cheating in any form on an evaluation should result in an automatic zero mark on that evaluation and in general also result in a substantive additional academic penalty. The severity of this additional penalty will depend upon several factors which include, but are not limited to, the degree of participation in the offence and whether it is the student's first offence. The additional penalty will be specified by the course Professor.
4. That all cases of alleged academic misconduct must be reported immediately to the Chair.
5. That both cheating and attempted cheating be treated severely.
6. That in a case of academic misconduct on exams, tests, assignments, or labs a student providing academic material be considered to be involved in the offence along with the student receiving the information. The degree of this involvement will depend on the level of awareness of the offence on the part of the student whose work was copied, and the care that student has taken to ensure the privacy of the academic material in question.
7. That faculty clearly specify on assignments, labs, and/or on the course management form the degree of collaboration permitted. Unless otherwise stated, departmental policy should prevail.
8. That this policy be clearly identified to all students via the course management form.

Q: Can students work together on an assignment?

A: Yes and no.

In some cases, the course management form specifically prohibits two students enrolled in a Computer Science course from collaborating on assignments. For courses that allow collaboration, the following rules apply:  

• Both students’ names must be clearly identified on the assignment.
• This must be done when the assignment is handed in, and not after.
• Collaboration is not used to evade a charge of copying.
• Both students are credited with 80% of the final mark.

Questions? Ask your course professor.

The regular, full-time Computer Science program is accredited through Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS). This accreditation does not extend to core courses (CPS and MTH) taken at the Chang School of Continuing Education.

Can exceptions be requested?

Yes, under exceptional circumstances. The Department may grant a student permission to substitute one core day course with its Chang School equivalent.

Are all requests approved?

No. Authorization will be granted at the discretion of the Department.

Can requests be granted retroactively?

No. The form must be submitted prior to registering for the course.

To request authorization:

Pick up a “Permission for Computer Science Students to Take CE Course” form from the Computer Science departmental office. Complete and submit to Lori Fortune, Administrative Assistant.