Student laptop plan progressing

By Dustin Porter
Around the Capus Editor

The Faculty Senate meeting last spring approved a proposal for a student laptop requirement and called for the formation of an implementation committee, according to the Senate's April 2010 minutes.

The 22 person committee is made up of students, faculty and staff and has been planning, studying and researching to find a costefficient plan to meet the requirements set by the Senate, according to Dr. Robert Orr, associate vice chancellor for information resources and chief information officer for the Division of Information Technology.

SGA President Arjay Quizon, one of the students on the committee, said that before a plan becomes official a pilot between 30 and 60 students will experiment with the proposed plan, and the plan will be judged based on the success of the pilot group.

"There is still a lot of planning to be done before a pilot group is created," Quizon added.

Dr. Orr added that one goal is to help faculty implement technology in the classroom.

"If every student has a laptop, then the costs of textbooks should drop because e-books could now be easily accessed in class," Dr. Orr said.

Survey
The committee conducted a survey with students at UNCP and concluded that 80 percent of them already have laptops, Dr. Orr said.

Dr. Orr said that the majority of the students coming to UNCP already have laptops and the shortage fell with the upperclassmen.

"Having a computer gives you the capability to accomplish many things as a student, but more importantly gives you the ability to learn," Dr. Orr said.

Dr. Orr said that the committee is still planning and will not submit a plan unless they know for sure that it is cheap and beneficial for students.

"In these economic times, you have to be mindful of costs to students," Dr. Orr said.

He added that any plan that the committee submits will need approval and that it will be a while before the plan is perfected.

"I do not want to rush this because of the significance, and I want to help the students," Dr. Orr said.