Computers

Whether you're using a PC or a MAC, you'll always have access to the best of what computer technology has to offer.

• The new Campus Center and the Healey Library now offer wireless service.  Log on whenever just about wherever!                                                                        
• Our top-notch Customer Service Center provides all UMB students with a free email Account.

• Need a new computer? Need to upgrade that old clunker? With links to three major vendors (Dell, Gateway, and Apple), usave.umb.edu offers you the chance to purchase computers and computer accessories at a fraction of retail prices.

• With close to 300 computer workstations in nine PC and MAC Computer Labs, you have free access to an array of computer programs and applications. Members of the Computing Services staff offer hands-on workshops at the start of each term, covering a variety of topics from "Introduction to Windows 2000" to "Advanced SPSS."

• Manage all aspects of your UMB career as a student wisely! With WISE you can view your course schedule, your grades, your transcript, and much more! WISE also saves you time when registering for classes by providing a link to Web registration.

• "Adaptive computing" refers to the professional services and the technology that go together to make computing technology available to people with disabilities. UMB's Adaptive Computing Lab is here to serve our students with disabilities, and includes a document reader, a voice synthesizer and a Braille printer,

• From introductory courses to a Ph.D. The Computer Science Department teaches a slew of courses, from the most basic to learning high-level languages. The department also offers courses in information technology (IT) to prepare non-computer science majors to enter the workplace with the knowledge and skills necessary for today's job market.

• Through the Department of Earth and Geographic Science, UMB's Certificate Program in Geographic Information Technologies offers a wide range of courses that teach the concepts, principles, techniques, and applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) using computer cartography, remote sensing and digital image processing, global positioning systems (GPS), and digital photogrammetry.

• With the Healey Library's Laptop Loan Program, UMass Boston students can check out a laptop from the Reserve Desk for up to 8 hours. These laptops are equipped with wireless network cards which can connect to the campus network and the Internet throughout most of the library.

• Graduate students have access to the specialized Graduate and Research Computing Multimedia Lab which contains powerful, multi-processor PC workstations with an extensive suite of software, including statistical, geographic, mathematical, office, image and video editing, page layout, and web authoring tools. The lab also contains B&W and color laser printers, 36-inch inkjet printer-plotter, film scanners and recorders, document and OCR scanners, digitizer, video capture systems, CD burners, and projector.

• Many professors are using computer technology in the classroom in creative ways. For instance, Mary Oleskiewicz teaches her course, "The History of Musical Instruments," in a 'smart" classroom and she includes sophisticated PowerPoint presentations that give students sounds and pictures of instruments. Oleskiewicz notes that taking students to museums to see historical instruments is too difficult, so digital imagery and Web access in the classroom is crucial. Using the Internet in her classroom, Oleskiewicz accesses online museums, historical Web sites, and sound files to illustrate historical instruments. She also uses a document camera to show students musical scores, portions of the Encyclopedia of Instruments, pictures in books, or visual and sculptural arts.