About the CSL
The Computer Systems Lab (CSL) operates and maintains the computer facilities of the Computer Sciences Department at UW-Madison. We are responsible for software and hardware support and maintenance, upgrades and distribution of equipment.
Contact Us
The CSL is generally staffed 9AM - 5PM weekdays when the university is open.
Email: lab@cs.wisc.edu
The best way to contact the CSL is via email. All email sent to lab@cs.wisc.edu is entered in our request tracking system. This assures that we have your complete information, and the problem or service request description in your own words, without transcription error.
You will receive an acknowledgment with a tracking number in the subject line in square backets. Once a request ticket has been created, please reply to the ticket with the subject line intact for all correspondence on that issue. New requests should be sent as new mail to create a separate ticket, which can be assigned to the appropriate staff and tracked separately from other tickets. If a new ticket relates to another ticket, please include that information in the email message to initiate the ticket.
Please do NOT include your password in any email message – we do not need your password for any reason
When sending mail to request service or report a problem, please provide appropriate background information for the request, including your name, Computer Sciences user name, the workstation you are using, what class or research project this is for (if applicable), and any other relevant background or context information so that we better evaluate your request or problem report.
Phone: 608-262-2389
If your call is not answered please leave a detailed voicemail. CSL staff will follow up accordingly.
Walk-in Service Desk: Room 2350 Computer Sciences
You can visit the CSL Service Desk in room 2350 Computer Sciences during regular business hours. As with a phone call, we will attempt to answer your question, and in many cases will ask you to submit the details via email, when practical. Some issues are best handled in person, when you can demonstrate the problem for our staff. For these issues, we may ask you to come to the Service Desk for assistance.
Computer Systems Lab Staff
The Computer Systems Lab has six professional staff, and 10-12 student hourly staff, working 15-20 hours per week.
Campus IT Committees, Advisory groups, and Working groups
CSL Staff participate in multiple IT committees, advisory groups and working groups at the College and Campus level. Our participation brings the Computer Sciences Department perspective to these discussions, allowing us to help improve IT services for all of campus, and also gives us early insights into future College and Campus IT directions.
Some of the groups we participate in:
- College and Letters and Sciences Technical Leadership Committee
- UW-Madison Information Security Team (UW-MIST) and MIST Executive Committee
- IT Policy Analysis and Advisory Committee
- Multiple IT Policy stakeholder and drafting teams
- IT Policy communications subcommittee
- Identify and Access Management (IAM) Council
- DoIT Common Service Management Framework - Feedback Team
- Information Technology Collaborative Coordination Committee (ITCCC) - guest participant
- Campus GIT service working group
- IT Search and Screen committees for other Departments