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title: CS1951V Course Communication Guide (Fall 2022)

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title: CS1951V Course Communication Guide (Fall 2022)
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# CS1951V Course Communication Guide (Fall 2022)

## Overview 
Slack is our primary platform for course communication, with a few exceptions.
- Andy doesn’t use Slack, so you should email him.
- For official matters like extension requests and Dean's notes, you should email Andy at avd@cs.brown.edu. You should **NOT** contact the HTA/TAs for these matters. 
- All other communication should be sent over Slack. 

## Slack
We will use Slack in lieu of EdStem for this course. We'll pin relevant FAQs and announcements in each Slack channel; please check these first before asking questions.

**Public v. Private Questions**
We trust you to use good judgment about questions that should be asked publicly vs. privately. If you're ever unsure, please reach out to TAs privately.

Questions that are okay to asks publicly:
- Clarification questions about project handouts
- Logistical questions
- Questions about lecture concepts
- Questions about packages or syntax issues (general, with no pasted code)

Questions that will stay private:
- Any questions specific to a project and very narrow in scope
- Questions about bugs where the solution would reveal solution-specific information

**When to Post a Question in Slack**
- Start by looking through the lecture slides, the lab/assignment handout, and existing Slack posts. Still can’t figure it out?
- Can your question be asked publicly?
    - Send it publicly in the appropriate Slack channel!
- Is your question private?
    - Attend TA hours! Still can’t figure it out? 
    - Create a group chat with you and ALL of the TAs, and send your question there. 

**TA Availability**
Please remember that TAs are students with our own work and class schedules. TAs are not obligated to respond immediately, but we will do our best to get back to you within 24 hours. 


**Asking Questions Anonymously**
You can ask questions anonymously in the #assignments and #general channels using Anonymous Bot. Keep in mind that only questions that are okay to ask publicly should be posted using Anonymous Bot. 

To send an anonymous message, send the message `/anonymous` in the channel, which will bring up this popup:

![](https://i.imgur.com/YmY7pep.png)

The message you write in the box will be sent by Anonymous Bot to the channel. 

