Newswise — Indiana State University will become the first public university in the state to require all undergraduate students to have notebook computers, beginning with incoming freshmen in fall 2007.
C. Jack Maynard, ISU's provost and vice president for academic affairs, announced the program Thursday after the proposal gained the endorsement of student leaders.
"The importance of the initiative is found in its focus on improved learning and post graduate preparation for entry into a world increasingly defined by technology, globalization, and communication," Maynard said. The notebook requirement further supports Indiana State's commitment to attracting high-achieving students, he said.
"I am very pleased the Student Government Association has provided its support. The SGA leadership team spent a tremendous amount of effort researching the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed program. The university now has a clear mandate to move forward with this initiative," Maynard said.
"The Student Government Association feels this is a program of great educational merit. The practical implications of giving all students this level of technology are limitless," SGA President Hobart Scales said. "This initiative once again illustrates that ISU is an innovator in higher education in the state of Indiana. Technologically we again reassert our dominance over our peers with this program and I'm excited as a student to be at Indiana State University."
The decision to implement the notebook initiative culminates more than a year of study and research involving students, faculty and administration. The Faculty Senate approved the notebook initiative last spring but the SGA initially expressed concerns about details of the program. During the summer, student leaders conducted an independent, in-depth evaluation of the program, culminating in a pledge of support from Scales.
While it is not possible to project prices two years into the future, given the declining trend in the cost of technology, university officials hope to see suitable academic laptop computers available for around $1,000 or less by the time the requirement takes effect.
A committee comprised of students, faculty and administrators will work with Indiana State's Office of Information Technology to address implementation issues raised by an earlier feasibility study and SGA.
Announcement of the notebook program places Indiana State at the forefront of an emerging national agenda to promote "one-to-one" computing in education, which envisions the creation of learning environments in which every student is assured continuous and pervasive access to the rich set of tools and information resources today's technology offers, Maynard said.
Within the past year, Indiana State joined the ranks of high-performance computing with the acquisition of a powerful computer cluster capable of performing nearly a trillion operations per second, a capability that will greatly improve the university's standing as a research institution. In addition, 98 percent of the ISU campus is equipped for wireless computing.
In requiring student ownership of notebook computers, Indiana State will join the ranks of such schools as the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Northern Michigan University, Clemson University, and the College of William and Mary, which all have similar initiatives.
Indiana State President Lloyd W. Benjamin III highlighted the importance of the initiative last month in his fall address to the campus, in which he outlined ISU's plan to strengthen the educational experience for all students and enhance the image of the university. Benjamin expressed his support for the initiative and his intent to share details with the university's Board of Trustees at its Sept. 23 meeting.
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