Using R at Whitman

Owned by Chris Mead
Last updated: Dec 10, 2021 by Sami Klobucista (Deactivated)
2 min read

What is R?

R is a popular and free software environment for statistical computing and graphics, is open source. 
R is available as Free Software under the terms of the Free Software Foundation’s GNU General Public License.

R is currently available as a deployable package, and is installed by default on all of our teaching stations. The most current deployable version of R is 4.1.0, 64-bit.

Package Management/Availability

Starting in Fall 2021, packages for R (and RStudio) will be not be pre-loaded on Whitman Computers. R Packages are installed in the User's H Drive, and should follow the user, so faculty are encouraged to assign their students an exercise to prepare their R Environment for the semester prior to utilizing R. 


Changing R Version on Windows Desktops

Hold down the Control key during the launch of RStudio, this will cause the R version selection dialog to display at startup. Then Click "Choose a specific version of R:". Select the version of R you wish to use and click "OK". R will now open in the version you selected. 

Changing R Studio to work on a different R version in RDS 

Log in to RDS.SYR.EDU 

Open R Studio

Navigate to Tools → Global Options


Under General ---- R Version:  Click on Change...


Choose the 3rd Radio button : Choose a Specific Version of R.   Choose the 64 Bit option of the Version you would like to run. 


R Studio will prompt you to restart R Studio, and your desired Version of R will now be running.