Spring Break
Laptop program off to good start
Katie Booher
Issue date: 9/19/06 Section: Campus
A semester after the initiation of the Miami Notebook program, a collaboration between Information Technology (IT) Services and the Miami University Bookstore, IT Services believes that eventually 100 percent of all Miami students will purchase a laptop through the university.
"Of the students who purchased (computers), 91 percent of the 2,000 units sold went to first-year students," said Kathleen Brinkman, director of IT Support Services. "We didn't develop the program until November or December of last year, so some folks had already purchased a laptop or weren't in the market or hadn't heard about it, but we will be advertising earlier this year."
The program offers lower-priced computers to Miami students, but is not mandatory. IT Services and the bookstore started promoting the new program at the beginning of spring semester last year, which led to a definite increase in sales this year, according to Joe Martin, the Miami University Bookstore computer manager.
"This year to date we've sold 2,000 notebooks compared to last year's 700," Martin said. "Some of that was because we were able to lower prices and offer kids computers hassle free and some was because IT has been able to step up its computer support."
In order to better assess incoming students' computer needs, IT Services worked with a marketing class in the Richard T. Farmer School of Business to study computer trends, Brinkman said.
"It's their capstone project to help us understand whether were hitting the right models for students and if our message is the right message," Brinkman said.
Brinkman also said next year, faculty will have more input into which computers would be better suited to their needs.
"We'll have greater incorporation of faculty into the choices we make," Brinkman said. "We had them all approved by the divisions, but we'd like to do a bit more in-depth on what would be useful to them."
One of the main reasons for the notebook computer push is to better incorporate technology into the classroom.
"Of the students who purchased (computers), 91 percent of the 2,000 units sold went to first-year students," said Kathleen Brinkman, director of IT Support Services. "We didn't develop the program until November or December of last year, so some folks had already purchased a laptop or weren't in the market or hadn't heard about it, but we will be advertising earlier this year."
The program offers lower-priced computers to Miami students, but is not mandatory. IT Services and the bookstore started promoting the new program at the beginning of spring semester last year, which led to a definite increase in sales this year, according to Joe Martin, the Miami University Bookstore computer manager.
"This year to date we've sold 2,000 notebooks compared to last year's 700," Martin said. "Some of that was because we were able to lower prices and offer kids computers hassle free and some was because IT has been able to step up its computer support."
In order to better assess incoming students' computer needs, IT Services worked with a marketing class in the Richard T. Farmer School of Business to study computer trends, Brinkman said.
"It's their capstone project to help us understand whether were hitting the right models for students and if our message is the right message," Brinkman said.
Brinkman also said next year, faculty will have more input into which computers would be better suited to their needs.
"We'll have greater incorporation of faculty into the choices we make," Brinkman said. "We had them all approved by the divisions, but we'd like to do a bit more in-depth on what would be useful to them."
One of the main reasons for the notebook computer push is to better incorporate technology into the classroom.
