Northwest to expand student laptop program

Plans to expand Northwest’s laptop computer distribution program moved forward last week with Student Senate approval of an Office of Information Systems proposal to increase the University’s technology fee from $7 to $10 per credit hour.

The expansion, scheduled for implementation in fall 2008, will provide every full-time Northwest undergraduate and graduate student with a new, fully loaded laptop computer, whether or not the student lives on campus.

Full-time undergraduates are those enrolled in at least 12 credit hours of classes. Full-time graduate students must have signed up for at least 9 credit hours of academic work.

Currently only students living in campus residence halls, suites and apartments receive a computer, though Northwest makes laptops available for rent to those who reside off campus. Under the expanded program, the rental option will remain in place for part-time students, who would pay $50 per trimester for a used laptop.

Dr. Jon Rickman, vice president for information systems at Northwest, said the University needs to commit to the expansion this spring in order to get the best deal possible on the purchase of approximately 5,500 laptops at a cost of about $4 million. In addition to providing new computers to all full-time students, the plan calls for using existing machines as rentals to part-time students.

Each new 1.8 gigahertz computer will come with 2 gigabytes of random access memory. The machines will be pre-loaded with the Microsoft Windows operating system and Microsoft Office 2007 software. New computers checked out to full-time students will remain in service for three years before being replaced and reclassified as rentals.

As is the case under the existing laptop program, students will be responsible for the full replacement cost of lost or stolen laptops, and all check-outs, check-ins and repairs must be completed at the University’s Electronic Campus Support Center.

The University’s laptop program began in fall 2005, when more than 2,200 notebook computers were distributed to students living on campus. Northwest has a long tradition of providing students with the latest information technology resources and made national headlines in 1987 when it became the first public university in the United States to create a comprehensive electronic campus.

For more information, please contact:

Anthony Brown,
News Bureau Manager
E-Mail: abrown@nwmissouri.edu
Phone: 660.562.1704
Fax: 660.562.1900

Northwest Missouri State University
219 Administration Building,
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

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