The academic computing environment at USC is rich in resources and opportunities for students and faculty. University Computing Services, responsible for serving the community's information needs in instruction, research and in support of the USC Library, provides access to a variety of computer systems including high performance systems from IBM, SGI and Convex, UNIX workstations and file servers, and several microcomputer platforms. These are all integrated in a campus-wide network, USCnet, linking USC to the Internet, Usenet and BITNET as well as the national supercomputer centers.
Several public user rooms containing UNIX, Macintosh and DOS/Windows workstations provide access to the network and its resources to students for class work and independent study. Public workstations are also available in the new Leavey Library information commons and private workrooms. Many departments and laboratories operate specialized computing facilities.
USCInfo, the USC Library's online information system, contains electronic versions of the library's card catalogue and bibliographic databases. Two information servers, USCgopher (gopher://gopher.usc.edu:70/) and USCWeb (http://www.usc.edu:80/), contain the USC Catalogue, handbooks, schedules and other information provided by campus offices and organizations. Both are linked to information servers at other universities, research institutions, and public and private organizations. Electronic mail allows students and faculty to communicate with others on campus and around the world or to participate in global newsgroups and mailing lists.
Opportunities to learn about computers and how to use them abound on campus. University Computing Services provides primary training in the use of computers, network navigation tools and many software packages. General and specific consulting support is also available to computer users on all university-supported systems. The USC Library offers additional, discipline-specific instruction on using USCInfo and Internet resources. Programming and Data Processing is an academic program that provides an extensive range of computer courses to non-computer science majors. Campus user groups, including the Microcomputer Users Group, have been created to provide user-to-user education .
The schools of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy, and the health professions departments of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, Nursing, and Occupational Therapy train professionals in the traditional health care fields, conduct original research in all aspects of biomedicine and health care and provide high quality health care services to the Southern California community.
Health care facilities on the Health Sciences Campus include the Doheny Eye Institute, USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, the USC Healthcare Consultation Center and the USC University Hospital. Dedicated in May 1991, the 275-bed University Hospital is the newest addition to the inpatient facilities located on campus. Owned and operated by National Medical Enterprises - and staffed entirely by USC medical faculty - the hospital offers advanced diagnostic and treatment services not typically found in community hospitals.
The School of Medicine also provides medical direction and house staff for the adjacent Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center, which ranks as the nation's largest medical teaching facility and one of the country's largest acute care facilities. Owned and operated by the County of Los Angeles, the center comprises two distinct and separately administered hospitals: General Hospital and Women's and Children's Hospital.
Produced by the USC Division of Student Affairs, Office of University Publications, May 1, 1995