Clark Science Center
Computing & Technical Services

Why are we here?

The "CATS of Science" exist to support the unique needs of the faculty, students, and staff in Division 3 (the Sciences, Engineering, and Mathematics).

Division III has need of rather specialized technologies to support their academic mission. Whether it's software to design and stress-test a bridge truss, control systems to operate a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, desktop and server-based tools for statistical analysis, or workstations for teaching the next generation of computer scientists, our job is to support the distinctive needs of scholarship, research, teaching, and learning in this quadrant of the campus. We complement the various departments of ITS to provide what is beyond their scope, but we do not (can not) replace them.

While we strive to provide a high level of service for ALL technology questions/requests, there is a general rule of thumb for our core responsibilities. If a department of ITS provides a service to the other academic divisions, they also provide it to division 3. If the technology is outside the scope of ITS, it's a question for CATS. For example, the User Support Center answers questions about Microsoft Office for anyone on campus. But Linux on the desktop is unique to division 3, so that would fall directly to the CATS. And faculty in other divisions do not have computers in research labs to worry about, so support of lab machines is the CATS' responsibility.

Some Specific Things We Worry About

Computers in computer classrooms/labs & research labs
Servers that support Division 3
Networking Infrastructure
Software unique to the domain of science/engineering/mathematics
Software installed in computer classrooms/labs
Shared printers and plotters
Network, server, and workstation security
System reliability and capacity

The specifics of what we can or cannot provide and the many areas of overlapping responsibility are addressed in our FAQ. PLEASE visit it and, if your question is not answered there, ask us - cats at email.smith.edu or call!

Note: We post all network/server problems on the Science Center home page and discussion of problems or upcoming issues is posted on our SysBlog.

We are:

Eric Brewer (Head CAT) - x3847, Bass 108a
Eric Jensen (Linux admin & Mgr of the Center for Design & Fabrication)- x3868, Bass 108b
Kelly Huard (Novell/Windows admin & Head Classroom Wrangler) - x4409, Bass 108c
Tony Caldanaro (Macintosh Guru) - x3719, Burton 111


Eric J. repairs a PC	Kelly delivers an emergency mouse	Tony troubleshoots cables	Eric B. supervising