UGLi Aisles

2026-01-04

So you found them

Example poster for aisle 1

If you're reading this, chances are you've found the posters in the UGLi basement. They're for EECS office hours.

If you're the library and don't like them, please don't discard them yet. Scroll to the bottom of the page and you can find my email. I'm sure we can find a compromise.

If you're a GSI/IA, feel free to incorporate them into your workflow.

If you're a student in an office hour, consider putting the number in your location, but that alone isn't enough. You still need to describe yourself.

TL;DR: I hope they make it easier for EECS students to describe their location, and for GSI/IAs to locate students.

Finding students is hard

In January 2026, I re-joined the EECS 370 instructor team as a GSI. I used to be an IA for two semesters, and I loathed how difficult it was to find students in my office hours in the UGLi basement.

The way EECS office hours work is, students log into the EECS OH queue system to hop on the queue. They provide their location, which the GSI/IA relies on to find them. The student could also add their hair color, shirt color, etc., but it does not always narrow it down.

When GSI/IAs have trouble locating a student, our solutions are:

  • Message them in hope they make it more specific
  • Walk around asking everyone if they are next
  • Shout their name (not encouraged)
  • Give up and pop them out of the queue

Honestly I do not always blame the student, because:

The basement is not designed for office hours

Rows of tables against a wall, and another island row of tables

▲ UGLi basement.

That part of the basement is perfectly symmetrical, so saying that you're sitting "next to the water fountain" does not help much because there are two water fountains on opposite ends of the room. The tall barriers obstruct line of sight, so I had to walk back and forth just to see which side it was. Even if you are sitting in the middle rows, it's not that simple to describe where you are since most tables lack distinguishing features.

Therefore, I propose a solution:

Number all the aisles

Number the aisles, not the tables. The goal of the numbering is to divide the basement into regions with unobstructed vision such that, for each region, there exists a point where the GSI/IA can see everyone, at least to identify shirt colors and such. Ideally, it should also be intuitive.

Handdrawn map of said basement

One day I got bored and surveyed the basement. On this map you'll see five vertical rows of tables, making six aisles; and one horizontal row, which makes two aisles. However, on the two ends of the horizontal row are two semicircular tables obstructed by a tall barrier, so they need their own numbers, or at least extensions. I chose W and E for West and East (note that North is down).

With that in mind, I present my number scheme:

Same map but numbered

Sure, 7W and 7E break the clean one-digit scheme, but pragmatism beats idealism.

Make them visible

The next step is to print, laminate, and post them on the walls or table barriers. I hope posting on walls does not violate any library rules that I do not know of, but I used masking tape which should not leave any marks. In case posting on the walls is not allowed, I can move all posters to the table barriers.

I will keep monitoring my inbox for any feedback and comments.