Check with the Grad Reps for office locations, and pick up keys from Marine Sinanyan (CSB 145). It's also possible to trade offices with someone else, but only if you both agree!

Maps of campus can be found at http://maps.ucsd.edu/Default.htm. Many students ride their bikes or take a bus. As a registered student, you may pick up a free bus sticker from the parking office.

Grad student offices don't come equipped with telephones. There's a phone in the kitchen and one in the upstairs hallway that can be used for outgoing calls only (dial 8 for off campus calls, dial last 5 digits of phone number for on-campus calls). In addition, long distance calling is only available with your own personal phone card. Most students find it cheaper to get a cell phone.

If your lab is supplying you with a state-of-the-art machine, consider yourself lucky! Otherwise, you can have an outdated, outmoded, surplus department machine installed in your office for e-mail access and light typing--see the Computer Rep, (lovingly referred to as our Chief of CRaP) for help finding equipment. Many grad students bring in their own computers--see the computer support expert, Mark Wallen (CSB 144), for help getting connected to the network.

You can send printouts to the laser printers in the mailroom or library. [Note: "library" refers to the small room across from the chair's office that contains all of Don Norman's old books.].

There are also computer labs in the building you can enter using your personal code. Some have color or two-sided printing (e.g. in room 112).

The department's mail code is 0515. This should be included on all mail sent to you, so your address will look like:

Jane Newgrad
9500 Gilman Drive #0515
La Jolla, CA 92093-0515

but in theory, just your name and the zip code 92093-0515 should work. Mail sent to you at the department gets waylaid in the university post office for a while, so packages can be delayed up to three days.

NOTE: You should update any address changes directly on TritonLink.

To send mail, just drop your stamped letters in any light blue UCSD mailbox. You can buy stamps at the post office in Price Center. Otherwise, just write your budget number (COG####, the same as your copy code) on the envelope and drop it in the "Budget Number and Stamped" tray in the mailroom. The cost of the stamp will be added to your copy charges. Intercampus mail is sent with mail code listed and no postage is required.

You can also receive faxes in the mailroom at 858-534-1128. To send a local fax, see instructions above fax machine. To send an out of town fax, you need a long distance authorization code (check with your advisor.)

There are mailing lists for different groups such as the graduate students, graduate students by year, the department or the faculty; however, I don't want to publicly post the mailing lists. Ask Becky for the specific names.

Refer to the Cognitive Science phone list for individual email addresses. A quick guide to email policy for UC can be found at www.ucop.edu/ucophome/policies/email/highlights.html

You can make your own copies in CSB 136 by swiping your student ID and entering your personal code (COG####). About once a quarter you'll get a bill for your copy charges -- about five cents a copy. To make a copy for a class you're TAing, use the code COGCLAS. If you plan to make a bunch of copies for a class (20 or more), use the duplicator instead of the copy machine.

Copying in Geisel Library requires a special Copier Services card which you can purchase from a machine at the library and load with prepaid amounts. Many students find it cheaper to check out books and make their copies in the CogSci building.

There is a supply cabinet in the xerox room, see the Department Assistant's office, room 139 for the key to the cabinet. Supplies are limited, so please take only what you need.

Many of the labs make coffee. Otherwise, most people buy a cup from one of the coffee vendors on campus, such as the Mandeville coffee cart ( The Art of Espresso) For a nicer setting, try The Grove in the old student center or Perks in the Bookstore.

Many people head to the food court at Price Center. Tip: Look for seating behind the Round Table Pizza rather than out in the middle of the crowded plaza. Lately, there's been great, cheap Hare Krishna food behind Mandeville on Mon/Wed/Fri at noon. Ask around for other ideas.

As a grad student, you can get a permit to park in the green "B" spaces (red "A" spaces are for faculty and yellow "S" spaces for undergraduates). The closest "B" spaces are in the big lot just west of the Chemistry Research Building, but these tend to fill up by about 9 to 10 am. With a "B" permit you can also park in any "S" space (good luck finding one!), and after hours (evenings and weekends) you can even park in an "A" space or at a meter for free. Just avoid spaces marked "A" permit required 24 hours a day, seven days a week." For covered parking, try the new parking structure on Torrey Pines Rd. and Pangea Dr., northwest of the CogSci building.

B permits cost about $213 per quarter. You can pick one up in the Parking Office (next to the Gilman Parking Structure) and charge it to your UCSD account, then pay for it later at the Cashier's Office.

To save on parking, try biking or riding the bus. The RideShare Office (next to the Gilman Parking Structure) gives out free bus stickers for your student ID, allowing you to ride the city buses for free in a designated area near the university. All of these buses are also equipped with bike racks, so you can bus & bike to work. If you register your bike at the RideShare Office, you can also get a free Occasional Use parking permit allowing you to park up to ten times (essentially once a week) in "B" spaces during the quarter.

Log onto TritonLink from the university web page using your student ID number and 4-digit access code (new students receive this code at Orientation). On TritonLink, you can also check the schedule of classes, add or drop courses, check your grades, and print your own unofficial transcript.

CogSci grad courses generally meet in room 003, but some smaller seminars meet upstairs in room 272. The CogSci 200 lectures on Friday also meet in 003, although the social hour afterwards is held in the Cogsci courtyard.

Most CogSci professors leave a stack of readings in the CogSci kitchen which you can read there or borrow long enough to photocopy. If enough students are interested, the professor may order readers from one of the local printers, saving you time on copying.

It's generally a bad idea to rush out and buy a lot of books for your courses. Consider borrowing books from more advanced grad students or sharing books with your classmates until you decide which ones you really want to own. You can also usually buy books cheaper online than at the campus bookstore -- try Amazon [Note: PSYC 201A&B are notorious for requiring books and software that aren't ever used, so borrow whatever you can for these courses.] You won't have time to read everything that's assigned, but be sure to at least familiarize yourself with the readings (e.g. read the abstract & intro, skim the methods and results, read the discussion or conclusion, etc.).

Before running over to Geisel Library to look for books, you can search the library catalog (or renew books) online using ROGER. If you're looking for articles, you can use MELVYL to search a variety of databases for the whole UC system. Both of these tools are available from the UCSD libraries main page. If the book you want is checked out, you can use Circuit to have it sent over from another university in the San Diego area. The bar code on the back of your student ID card is your library card number.

Each week there is an informal talk called the WA held on Mondays around lunchtime in room 003. These are generally discussions of current research being done by grad students, postdocs, visiting scholars, or professors in the department. Plan to attend talks of interest and feel free to bring your lunch. We hope to serve refreshments with the talks this year.

Most of the labs also hold weekly meetings that often include practice talks for conferences or talks by outside speakers. You should attend meetings for the lab where you are working (or doing a lab rotation), but you're also welcome to attend talks in other labs.

Friday afternoons the greater cognitive science community gathers in room 003 for the CogSci 200 lecture series. Each quarter invited speakers give talks around a central theme. Recent themes have included Problem Solving and Complex Cognition, Science Worth Doing and Probabilistic Functionalism. Following the talk each week, the audience retreats to the CogSci courtyard for Social Hour. If you enroll in CogSci 200 for credit (which you must do three times for your Ph.D.), you are also expected to attend a discussion section to complete some additional assignments (the section times and assignments vary with instructor).

One time each quarter we invite a Distinguished Speaker to visit the department and give a talk. Graduate students are invited to join the Distinguished Speaker for lunch at the faculty club.

Finally, there are many speakers who come to campus at the invitation of other labs and departments whose topics are of interest to cognitive scientists. In fact, there are so many talks going on that it is important to be selective about where you spend your time.

See the Senior TA for help on teaching-related questions and issues. The Senior TA can even visit your section if you would like some feedback. Also, the Center for Teaching Development is available as a resource.

See the Undergraduate Advisor, Thanh Maxwell (CSB 140), for help with rooms and equipment. Thanh keep the room schedule, have access to A/V (XGA remotes, laser pointers and key to 003), and can tell you how to use the duplicator in the mailroom to copy handouts for your classes.

See the Graduate Coordinator, Beverley Walton (CSB 143), for questions about TA requirements, credit and payment, or to sign up to TA a course.

Also be aware that we have a TA union called the Association of Student Employees (ASE). The ASE negotiates the general terms and conditions of graduate student employment and 1% of your TA salary goes to support this effort.

Salaries for TA's and GSR's are paid through payroll and have federal and state taxes withheld. Stipends for non-residents are also paid through payroll. Stipends for California residents are paid through the Bursar's Office and do not have taxes withheld, meaning you have to make quarterly estimated tax payments to the IRS and the State of California in order to avoid tax penalties. If your funding or residency changes, you may have to fill out a new direct deposit form. See Becky Burrola (CSB 143) if you have any questions about your support, and see Marine Sinanyan (CSB 145) for paychecks and direct deposit forms.

As a graduate student, you can join the University and State Employees Credit Union (USE-CU) if you want to--they have an office on campus and an ATM behind the Price Center. Several other major banks, including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Chase, also have ATMs behind the Price Center.

Go to Student Health Services before 4:30 pm Monday through Friday or to Thornton Hospital for emergency care. Student Health Services is close to the CogSci building, just across from the Price Center.

Each fall there is a beach party, organized by the second-year students, to welcome the new graduate students. Every Friday there is a Social Hour in the CogSci courtyard from about 4:30 to 5:30 pm. You (and a friend, if you are so inclined) will want to sign up in the CogSci kitchen to host the Happy Hour one time each quarter--our Social Coordinator can provide all the details (what to buy, how much to spend, how to get reimbursed). And at the end of the spring quarter, the first-year class (that's you!) organizes a beach party to celebrate the second-year class's completion of their second-year research projects. To find out about other grad student activities (poker games, scuba lessons, improv comedy, to name a few), just ask around.

There are plenty of recreational opportunities on campus, including workout and sports facilities at the RIMAC gym, free drop-in aerobics and step classes at the Main Gym, swimming at the Canyonview Pool, and plenty of intramural sports. UCSD also has a facility down on Mission Bay, where you can rent boats or take classes in water sports. At Outback Equipment Rentals on campus, you can rent camping equipment or sign up for wilderness outings. Pick up a quarterly recreation guide for details.

And, of course, there are movies, concerts, theatrical performances, lectures, etc., held on campus on a regular basis--much more than you'll ever have time for. Tip: If you show up at Mandeville ten minutes before a concert and flash a student ID, they will usually sell you a ticket for just 5 bucks!

Volunteer for one of the Graduate Representative positions

CogSci 200 info	Gary Cottrell (Director of the Interdisciplinary Program)
Computer equipment	Computer Rep
Computer support	Mark Wallen (Technical Support, CSB 107) or CSB 144
Copier jams	Kathy Nguyen (Fiscal Assistant, CSB 147)
Degree requirements	Beverley Walton (Graduate Coordinator, CSB 143), your Adviser, or Seana Coulson (Grad Adviser)
Departmental website	Web Rep
Distinguished Speaker info or ideas	Distinguished Speaker Rep
Facilities (furniture, shelves, ...)	Andy Anderson (Development Technician, CSB 107)
Funding	Beverley Walton (Graduate Coordinator)
General administrative questions	Any of the administrative staff
Grad issues in general	Grad Reps
Graduate Student Association info	GSA Reps
Happy Hour setup	Social Coordinator
Keys	Marine Sinanyan (Payroll/Personnel Coordinator, CSB 145)
Paychecks and direct deposit	Marine Sinanyan (Payroll/Personnel Coordinator, CSB 145)
Rooms and A/V equipment	Thanh Maxwell (Undergraduate Advisor, CSB 140)
TA concerns	teaching: Senior TA, pay/credit: Beverley Walton (Graduate Coordinator, CSB 143), equipment: Thanh Maxwell (Undergraduate Advisor, CSB 140)
TA union	ASE/UAW
WA info or ideas	WA coordinator

I don't know, but I do know you won't find it in graduate school!