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.
"We want students to have (computers) that will help them utilize technology and incorporate it easily without it being a hassle," she said. "We also want faculty to have a consistent environment so they don't have to worry about the mechanics of the laptops not behaving correctly (when they should be focused on teaching their class)."
In support of this, 16 English 111 sections are completely digital this semester, and for English 111 graduate assistant Phil Bickel, the change has been a welcome one.
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"I've had students look at videos on the Web and write papers and submit them directly to me online using the wireless network," Bickel said. "The IT support has also been great."
First-year business major Matt Freund bought his Dell laptop through Miami and said he is happy with his purchase.
"It's been good so far," Freund said. "Even though I've had to call IT Services a few times but they were really helpful, so I'm happy."
For more information about Miami's Notebook Program, visit www.muohio.edu/ miaminotebook.
Miami Notebook Models
Apple: All Apple models come with Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger), the iSight built-in camera, and the iLife '06 digital suite which includes iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, and iWeb.
Apple MacBook: White-$1,550; Black-$1,705; starting weight 5.2 pounds
Apple MacBook Pro-15.4": 2.0 GHz-$1,948; 2.16 GHz-2,314; starting weight 5.6 pounds
Apple MacBook Pro-17": $2,584; starting weight 6.8 pounds
Dell
All Dell notebook models come with Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional and a three-year limited warranty with CompleteCare Accidental Damage Service.
Dell™ Latitude™ D620: $1,589; starting weight 5 pounds
Dell™ Latitude™ D820: $1,899; starting weight 6 pounds
Dell™ Precision™ M90: $2,479; starting weight 8.6 pounds
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