IBM User's Guide, Thirteenth Edition

2 Policies and Procedures

To run jobs or log on to timesharing facilities at UTCC, a user must have a valid project code and programmer number. The different types of codes and the procedure necessary to obtain these codes are explained below.

Applying for an account

Application for project codes is made via a Request For Services form available at 200 SMC. This form must be signed by the user's department head and should indicate any special conditions concerning the project such as deadlines, programming, consulting, and/or machine requirements.

Project codes and programmer numbers

All work processed by UTCC is accounted for on a project basis. A project code identifies an individual project. A programmer number identifies an individual user. The programmer number should be used only by the individual to whom it is assigned. The user is responsible to the project director and the department which requested the project code. The charges accrued by a project code are the responsibility of the department which requested the project code. All charges are automatically transferred to the UTCC account through the UT Treasurer's Office without producing transfer vouchers. Monthly audit trails for project codes and a report summarizing activity by project codes and account number are sent directly to departments.

Project code classifications

Projects are classified as unsponsored research, grant or contract sponsored research, university classes, educational support projects (including CAFE), administrative projects, and nonuniversity projects. A project is identified by a numeric project code, the last digit of which indicates the type of project, as follows:

Last Digit of Project Code Project Type

1 Unsponsored research projects 2 Sponsored research not funded or partially funded for computing work 3 Sponsored research projects 4 Administrative projects 5 University classes and CAFE 6 Projects external to the university

Not every project code is valid on every UTCC system.

Project codes for university classes

Instructors for courses which use the computing facilities should apply for a project code and programmer numbers for their students at least two weeks before the codes are needed. All class codes are closed automatically at 12 midnight on the last day of the alternatives period each academic term unless the instructor requests an earlier closing date. Files and data sets associated with those projects become inaccessible at that time. It is the responsibility of the instructor to have all rented tapes and disk space released prior to the closing date; otherwise, tapes and disk area will be released on the closing date.

Cancellation of project codes

Codes other than 5-codes are closed at the request of the project director. When work on research (1-, 2-, and 3-codes) and administrative (4-codes) is completed, the project director should notify UTCC that the code is to be closed by submitting a Request for Cancellation of Services form. Forms are available from UTCC, 200 SMC, 974-6831. No notification is necessary for class codes, since these are closed automatically at 12 midnight on the last day of alternatives period each academic term. CAFE accounts are kept open as long as the owner is enrolled as a student at UTK. Before requesting cancellation, the project director should verify that there are no outstanding disk data sets or tapes for the project code. UTCC will not close a project code with which tapes are associated. Users must delete all disk data sets and release tapes associated with the project code before submitting the Request for Cancellation of Services to UTCC. UTCC will charge project codes at the programming rate for the time required to release disk space, uncatalog entries, and release tapes. Charges for the project code accrue until the code has been closed. The procedure for releasing tapes is described in section 10.5.4. The utility program IEFBR14, described in section 14.2.3, may be used to delete MVS disk data sets.

Project director responsibilities

A project director is a faculty member with the rank of at least assistant professor or a university staff member who oversees and supervises all work done on a project code. Project directors should see that research workers have access to all helpful and necessary materials, including user's guides, U01s, the UTCC Newsletter , programming manuals, and reference texts. They should maintain close communication with research workers to see that departmental funds and UTCC facilities are properly used. It is the project director's responsibility to inform the research workers when a project code is about to be closed.

Project administrator responsibilities

The project administrator is responsible for managing security for any data sets established under the project code (see section 11.6). By default, the project director and the project administrator are the same person, but that arrangement may be modified on request.

Project administrator can require periodic password change on MVS accounts The MVS operating system has a feature that can increase security on sensitive projects. The project administrator can request User Services to activate a RACF feature that requires each research worker on the project to change his or her password within a period of time specified by the project administrator (e.g., 30 days). Research workers who fail to change their password within the specified period would be denied permission to run jobs on that account until the password change is made. A research worker who was connected to the account but did not run jobs under it would not be affected. Project administrators who desire to enact this added security measure should contact the UTCC consultant for the project at 974-6831.

Research worker responsibility

Every research project has at least one research worker although the research worker and the project director may be the same person. The research worker carries out the work done on a project code and is identified by a programmer number. For thesis research projects, the research worker is the graduate student, and the project director is the graduate student's major professor.

Responsibility for user data sets

Tape data sets are not backed up by UTCC. UTCC backs up all VM and MVS online disk data sets to tape on a regular basis. Daily backups are made of VM disk data sets that have been created or changed in some way. Weekly backups are made of all online disk data sets, both VM and MVS. Backup tapes are stored off site, held for a few weeks, and then released. The contents of disk data sets are not verified in the backup process, and the backup version of an online disk data set cannot be guaranteed to be free of error. The UTCC backup procedures should not be interpreted as absolving users of the responsibility for protecting their own data sets from corruption or loss. UTCC strongly recommends that users back up all data sets that are costly or difficult to recreate.

Credit policy

UTCC will credit charges to a user's account for a run which fails due to operator, machine, or UTCC system software errors. A suspected error must be reported to the user's consultant within three working days of its occurrence. When reporting a batch problem on the IBM machines, the user should be prepared to provide UTCC with a copy of the unchanged input file used to run the job and job output listings. Requests for credit will not be considered without the required information. If the failure is found to be due to an operator, machine, or UTCC system software error, the charges for the original run will be credited to the user's account. Credit is not given for rerunning the job, nor does UTCC assume responsibility for data sets lost in the run. If the user's program is found to be at fault, no credit will be given for the original run or any required reruns. Users will be notified by their consultant as to the status of the errors. Interactive sessions may also be credited if the user can provide enough information about the session so that the consultant can determine the cause of the problem. If possible, the consultant should be contacted immediately. Otherwise, a record should be made of as many details as possible about the problem, including any error messages, the time the problem occurred, and the time the user logged in to the account.

Acknowledgment

Users who publish results that were obtained in whole or in part by the use of UTCC facilities are requested to acknowledge this fact in publications, dissertations, theses, technical reports, and conference proceedings. The following form is appropriate for a general acknowledgment:

The author acknowledges the contributions of the Chancellor of The University of Tennessee
and the University Computing Center in providing computing facilities and services.

To assist an ongoing project of documenting the contributions of UTCC computing resources to the work of our users, it is requested that copies of publications, dissertations, theses, technical reports, and conference proceedings in which UTCC is acknowledged be sent to the UTCC Associate Director for Research and Academic Computing, UT Computing Center, 200 Stokely Management Center, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-0520.

UTCC Schedule of Charges

Charges for the use of the services and facilities of UTCC are detailed in the "Schedule of Charges," U01-0562. To obtain an up-to-date copy of the schedule of charges, use the PRTDOC facility on CMS.

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