Lab FAQ

Geomatics Teaching Labs I & II, the Paleoinformatics Research Lab, and the Rural GIS Research Lab are all located in the J.B. Hunt Transport Services Center for Academic Excellence (JBHT) on the UA-Fayetteville campus. The building is located at 227 North Harmon Avenue, Fayetteville, AR 72701, on the southwest corner of Harmon Avenue and Dickson Street.

The Geomatics Teaching Labs are located on the second floor in rooms 228 and 231.

The Paleoinformatics and Rural GIS Research Labs are located on the third floor in rooms 340 and 343.

Faculty wishing to use the CAST teaching labs for a semester-long course should contact the appropriate person in their department to request the room through R25.

Students enrolled in courses that meet in one or both of the Geomatics Teaching Labs (JBHT 228 or JBHT 231) are automatically given access to the labs for the duration of the class. If you are experiencing problems with your card access, please send an email to cast@uark.edu.

Any U of A student, faculty or staff member is eligible to use the CAST research labs. Students are required to have a U of A faculty or staff member serve as their reference or sponsor for access.

Access can be requested by submitting a CAST Lab Access Request.

Entry to the labs requires a valid U of A ID card, obtainable from the Campus Card Office.

Valid U of A ID Cards are required for entry into CAST labs in the JBHT building. Access must be obtained by submitting a CAST Lab Access Request.

Lab doors are controlled by DSX card readers located on the wall to the right of each doorframe.

ID cards are inserted into a slot at the bottom of the card reader, face out with the U of A logo on the right side. Your photo should be in the bottom left corner.

Insert card into the bottom of the reader and remove quickly. The indicator light on the card reader should change from red to green as the door unlocks.

The labs are available for research, homework and studying any time that there is not a class in session. Please check the Geomatics Calendar online or at each door prior to entry to avoid interrupting any classes in session.
All systems are part of the UA General Computer Lab (GACL) domain. Users can access their home directories and disks from any machine. Students, faculty and staff should use their UARK Accounts (i.e. GACL\username or U of A email Address, like "janedoe@uark.edu") for accessing the computers in the labs unless otherwise specified by faculty or staff.

CAST maintains server space for use by students and faculty working in JBHT and Gearhart Hall. To request server space please submit a CAST Help Ticket specifying the approximate space needed, your course of study and the name of a faculty member with whom you have been working or studying. Server space is maintained for one year (July 1- June 30) unless it is renewed. If the account is not renewed the contents are archived.

Once your server space is assigned you may map a drive to it, allowing you to save and access your data from any machine.

You may choose to temporarily work on the local hard-drive in c:\temp; however, be sure to copy your work back to your server space before you log out. Backups of the workstation drives are infrequent, and drives are routinely re-imaged for maintenance - meaning any files stored locally on the computer are permanently deleted.

Remember to backup important documents, project, thesis and dissertation work. Lots of effort has gone into your work, so take extra care to protect it.

Please refer to the University of Arkansas Information Technology Services Tech Article on Mapping a Drive.

Please submit a CAST Help Ticket. If you are in the JBHT building and require immediate assistance, you may come to JBHT 304.

In Gearhart Hall, paper is available in the Department of Geosciences main office, GEAR 216.

The best way to resolve lab issues is to submit a CAST Help Ticket. If you do not have a University of Arkansas ID and email address, please email help@cast.uark.edu directly for assistance.