UW-M Answers

• CS Department
  • Our department uses many mailing lists. A few to consider subscribing to are
    • Gradchat (social and misc email),
    • theory-reading (information about talks of the Theory Reading Group), and
    • theory-seminar (information about talks of interest to the Theory Group).
  • The computer science department provides searchable results of their instructor/course evaluations as far back as Summer 2005 on the right side of their courses page.
  • There are two good ways to print from a laptop.
    • To install printers, follow the directions at this CSLDocs page. You also have to be connected to the COMPSCI wireless network. Below are the PPDs for some printers that I use.
      • copier-4a
      • copier-4a-color
    • You can also use the command: ssh USERNAME@best-linux.cs.wisc.edu "lpr -P PRINTERNAME" < FILENAME
  • Conference rooms can be reserved here.
  • To print a new nameplate for your office, use the nameplate generator.
  • To have CSL email you weekly statics about who is visiting your web page and from where, create a file called ".statinfo" in your html folder containing an email address where the report should be sent. See this for more information.
• University
  • Any computer on campus has access to many third party resources (i.e. conference and journal subscriptions). An easy way to access the same content from home is to append .ezproxy.library.wisc.edu after the top level domain name in the URL of the desired content from one of these sites. Sometimes the ezproxy fails but we still have access to the journal through a different source, which can be determined by search here.
  • The best way to get Mathematica is through the DoIT Tech Store. It has an annual license fee of $25 (which must be personal funds), is due on December 14th, and is not prorated. You can only install it on one machine, but if you install it on a Linux machine, then you can use it over SSH (with a GUI or without). UWM also has an active Premier Service subscription, so you can contact their support staff with any questions.
  • The Office of the Registrar provides course grade distributions as far back as Fall 1996.
  • Classroom exam scoring (for multiple choice tests with bubble sheets) can be graded automatically (and for free) by Testing and Evaluation Services. In addition grading, they can also provide many statistics
  • Technical outages, including unplanned ones, can be found at the DoIT Outage page.
  • You can watch television on campus through the Digital Academic Television Network (DATN).
  • The Office of Fellowships & Funding Resources (OFFR) wants to increase the number of fellowships awarded to UWM students. It was created in the fall of 2009, so the ways in which it assists fellowship applicants is still growing. Currently they administer major internal and external fellowship programs, provide information on funding policies, and advise students on funding opportunities/usage and the funding landscape here at UW. This office allowed me to view essays of successful fellowship applicants. The Writing Center will review your fellowship essays.
  • To be authorized to drive a university vehicle as a student, complete this form. It takes 10 business days from the time the form is submitted until approval, at which time your name is added to the approved driver database. If you have not held a Wisconsin drivers licence for at least three years, then you also need this form, which can be notarized by the people in cubicles 6222 or 6224 in cubicle room 6200M (on the 6th floor) of (Risk Management, Suite 6101) 21 N Park Street. A copy of the first form must is either submitted in the appropriate basket in the first room on the left as you come out of the elevator (on the 6th floor of the previous building) or faxed to 608-262-9082 (but only use the last five digits if using a fax on campus).
    • The UDDS number for the CS department is A482000 ("A" is for Madison, "48" is for the College of Letters and Sciences, and "2000" is for the department of computer science). Put Cathy Richard as the "contact person for notification of denial" and turn the forms into her.
    • All the information about renting a university vehicle is at the Physical Plant Car Fleet website. Of particular importance is how to pick up a car after hours. Basically, you need your reservation number. To get your reservation number, (1) login, (2) click "Car Fleet" along the top, and (3) click "View Reservations" along the top.
  • As a TA, you can cross-reference the name, campus ID number, and a photo of your students using the Faculty Center, which is located under the Teaching tab in MyUW.
  • The university automatically creates class mailing lists for every class. You can login to see (and manage) the class lists to which you belong.
  • One can renew library books online.
• Madison
  • The Madison Metro Transit now allows trip planning via Google Maps and has a smart phone app with live GPS locations of buses.
  • Driving on the Illinois interstate (i.e. to Chicago) requires paying tolls. While an I-PASS is nice and allows you to pay only half of the posted (cash) price, it has a high initial cost ($10 down payment for the device and at least $40 initial balance payment). Instead, just skip paying the tolls (i.e. drive through an I-PASS lane), record the (1) date (2) time and (3) plaza name/number, and pay your tolls online within seven days.