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Create lab direction handbook #45

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1 change: 1 addition & 0 deletions src/SUMMARY.md
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- [Guides]()
- [COSI Accounts]()
- [Website Creation](./guides/website_creation.md)
- [Lab Direction Handbook](./guides/lab_direction_handbook.md)

# Resources

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# Lab Direction Handbook

_updated: Jan 10th, 2025_

### This page is HEAVILY WIP and VERY INCOMPLETE. Check back soon!

# Introduction

COSI leadership should be open and transparent to the lab community. It truly
takes a village to run the CS labs. Through the combined effort of members,
maintainers, lab directors, and advisors, COSI has been a long-standing
community within Clarkson. A constant challenge we have faced is passing on
knowledge through generations of students. Many students have contributed lots
of information about the labs, our computers, and our principles to
[Book](../the_cosi_book.md) over the past few years. This document is a place
for knowledge surrounding lab leadership to be recorded for future students.


# Lab Directors

At any time, COSI has two lab directors. These students are responsible for
representing the lab to Clarkson and the general public, as well as
administrative tasks that keep things running smoothly in the labs.

Lab directors have the following responsibilities:
- Holding lab meetings and events
- Representing COSI at university events (open houses, activities fair, career
fair, etc.)
- Speaking to classes about COSI
- Managing the CS labs mailing list
- Managing credentials and physical access to the lab
- Managing funding and purchases for the lab
- Keeping the lab clean and functional

Lab directors do *not* have to be system / network administrators or software
maintainers. These tasks are handled by lab maintainers. However, lab directors
can also be maintainers if they wish.

## Onboarding

New lab directors should have the following sorted out (current lab directors
should make sure everything is in order):
- Lab keys (COSI/ITL, server room, 2nd floor lab), physical credential access
code
- Admin credentials for computers and network appliances
- Proper roles on mailing list, discord
- Contact information on CS labs website
- Talk to Jeanna and department administration

## Administration

COSI is a student-run academic lab. We are not affiliated with CUSA,
funding-wise we function more like a department. Since we are student-run, we
have fewer restrictions on our spending than most departments.

> Tip: OSL will sometimes forget that we are student-run, and CUSA will
> sometimes forget that we are not a CUSA organization. This can result in some
> pushback / rejections for administrative tasks, so please (kindly) remind
> them if you run into any issues trying to sign up for things.
### OSL registration

We need to register with OSL periodically to keep our KnightLife page. OSl will
send email about this to leadership indicated on KnightLife, so it is important
to keep this information up to date.

### Public presence

COSI maintains a public presence on the internet. It is important to keep tabs
on our websites+profiles and correct any outdated/missing information.
- COSI / CS labs website (cslabs.clarkson.edu, cosi.clarkson.edu)
- Mirror (mirror.clarkson.edu)
- KnightLife

We also have an official discord server for current students.

### Speaking to classes

COSI leadership is often invited to speak to new or returning students about the
lab in classes like CS141, CS142, and CS241. It is also worth it to ask
professors if you can take 5 minutes at the start of a class to pitch the labs.

## Events

Each semester, lab directors should be aware of the following events:
- Activities fair
- Open houses (usually 2 per semester on Saturday)
- Career fair (kickoff + main event)
- RAPS
- Any other opportunity to represent COSI on campus

### Activities fair

The activities fair runs right at the start of the semester. The earlier we
register for this, the better. This is our first impression for new students,
and a great chance to show off what we're doing to current students.

### Open houses

Department administration (usually Alexis Maciel) will email lab leadership
about open houses in advance. These events typically run on Saturday mornings,
and interested families will stop by the CS labs to learn about what we're all
about.

### Career fair

The career fair runs every semester, and is a great opportunity for COSI
members to spread the word about the lab. The career fair kickoff is typically
the night before the main event, and gives lab leadership a chance to tell
employers to keep their eyes peeled for COSI students.

### RAPS

RAPS (Research and Project Showcase) is an opportunity for COSI members who are
doing cool things to show them to the rest of the university. It is not
required, but it does catch the attention of administration and students alike,
so it is definitely worthwhile to strut our stuff there.


# Lab Maintainers

Lab maintainers are in charge of managing our IT infrastructure and maintaining
our software. These students are reponsible for deploying, configuring,

Check warning on line 123 in src/guides/lab_direction_handbook.md

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"reponsible" should be "responsible".
patching, and recovering servers + network appliances. They also dictate our
network topology and what services we run.

## Onboarding

New maintainers should have the following sorted out (lab directors should make
sure everything is done):
- Access to specific systems they are maintaining
- Access to the lab VPN
- Access to our jump server
- Keys for COSI/ITL and server room

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