On Monday, Aug. 17, Temple’s TECH Center opened with limited hours. These hours will be extended on Monday, Aug. 24, the first day of the fall semester.

Before you head to the TECH, there is some more important information you should know.

Upon entering the Bell Building lobby, you’ll notice plexiglass around the security desk. A TECH Center staff member will be monitoring the number of students entering the lab and once capacity is reached, you will need to wait for people to leave.

As with all buildings on campus, you’ll be expected to abide by the university’s  four public health pillars—physical distancing and properly worn facial coverings are required while in the TECH Center. Hand sanitizer is available at the security desk and throughout the lab. Once you enter the lab, you will be given a sanitizing wipe to clean the keyboard, mouse and desk area.

For the fall semester, TECH 202 or the “yellow room” is serving as a dedicated academic lab classroom with enough seating for 28 people and will not be available for general TECH Center use. The remainder of the center will be open with reduced seating  and workspace capacity to accommodate physical distancing guidelines. There will be 63 Windows machines and 40 Macs available for students’ use.

The lounge will remain open, but with far fewer seats available to accommodate physical distancing and to help maintain the capacity limit.

Breakout Rooms
Eleven breakout rooms are open for the fall semester. Prior to COVID-19, breakout rooms were strictly for collaboration and you needed to have three students to access them. Currently, individual students will be able to access the breakout rooms in order to attend online classes.  

Larger rooms will be limited to a maximum of three occupants who must keep a distance of at least six feet apart while using the room. Smaller breakout rooms will be limited to one occupant. Masks are required to be worn in the breakout rooms at all times. You’re encouraged to make reservations in advance for the breakout rooms. Make a reservation.
 

Printing
Printing will be a touchless system using a combination of the Proximity Tap app and QR codes. You will send print jobs either through lab computers or the Print on the Go system. Coming Soon: Instead of using OWLcards, you will use the Proximity Tap app to scan the QR code at the printer.  The app will list the print jobs that can be printed and you can decide which jobs to release to the printer.

RemoteLab
Remotelab will be available for students whose classes require specialized software only available in Temple’s labs. The service allows users to make a remote connection to access the software. Faculty requiring specialized software will work with their IT departments to provide students access to remote labs.

Multimedia Rooms
Recording Booths will be open and limited to one occupant at a time. This decision is based on the office of Environmental Health and Radiation Safety’s recommendation to allow the booths to stay empty for 12 to 14 hours after each use. Reserve a multimedia room.
 

Laptop Kiosks and Battery Share
Laptop and battery shares will be available, as well as Mac laptop loans. The Mac laptops will be sanitized upon return. Additionally, you can wipe down borrowed devices with the sanitizing wipes you receive upon entry.