Expanded student laptop program off to smooth start

laptop distribution

Newly-arrived Northwest students check out their University laptops during Move-in
Days. Northwest provides all full-time undergraduate and graduate students with a
laptop computer and handed out more than 5,000 of the state-of-the-art machines
prior to the start of the fall trimester.

Northwest’s expanded computer program -- which provides all full-time undergraduate and graduate students with a fully-loaded Hewlett-Packard laptop -- got off to a practically flawless start last week.

Office of Information Systems staffers handed out more than 5,000 machines as the beginning of the fall trimester approached -- 3,000 of them between Thursday, Aug. 21, and Friday, Aug. 22, when the bulk of the University’s students returned to campus. Classes resumed Monday, Aug. 25.

Concerns about long lines and other logistical problems failed to materialize as Information Systems staff conducted a nearly flawless distribution that utilized bar-code registration and other techniques designed to make the process as simple and speedy as possible.

“The checkout of the notebooks has really gone smoothly this year,” said Dr. Jon Rickman, vice president for information systems. “We are set up to swipe the bar codes with laser readers, and we also have an on-line contract that the students initial so that there isn’t another piece of paper involved.”

Northwest recently expanded its computer program to include all full-time undergraduate and graduate students, whether or not they live on campus. In the past, only student occupants of campus residence facilities have received University laptops. The program represents a significant cost savings for students, who pay a technology fee of only $10 per credit hour for a laptop with an approximate retail value of $1,500.

Rickman said providing notebook computers to all full-time students was a popular move with faculty, because those students now have access to the same superior level of computing capability.

“I think this has been the issue all the way along,” he said. “We’ve had computers available to off-campus residents as a (rental) option, but providing them to every student makes the environment a level playing field so that faculty can expect a high level of computing competence and a high level of available resources. It means that every full-time student can take part in any type of digital exercise or homework faculty members want to assign.”

Each of the 1.8-gigahertz laptops comes with 2 gigabytes of random access memory and is pre-loaded with the Microsoft Windows operating system and Microsoft Office 2007 software.

Full-time students at Northwest include undergraduates taking at least 12 credit hours of coursework and graduate students enrolled in at least nine credit hours.

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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