Story by Claire Smith, Staff writer
Photo by Richard Thompson
Having access to the internet is vital for most college classes. The Student Government Association is providing laptops to students in need through their Laptop Bank Program.
The program began last year as a pilot program to gauge whether students would participate and if people would recommend the program to others.
Christian Barnes, graduate student from Nortonville, Kentucky, is the Student Office Coordinator for SGA.
Barnes said the idea of a laptop bank began in 2017 with former SGA president Clint Combs, who looked at how similar programs such as the one at WKU benefited the school.
“He met with both our IT department and our procurement services department,” Barnes said.
Combs appointed Barnes to coordinate the program.
“IT found 12 laptops that were not being used anymore on campus,” Barnes said. “They serviced those laptops, they cleaned them off and made sure they had Microsoft Office.”
After receiving the laptops, Barnes met with the SGA president to design the application process.
There is an online application as well as a physical application that students fill out in the SGA office.
Barnes said that most students have opted to apply using the online application because it is anonymous.
Some questions on the application ask whether the student lives on campus, receives financial aid or scholarships and has a part time or full time job.
Maria Shockley, senior from Paducah, Kentucky, thinks the program will be beneficial to students who cannot afford a laptop.
“One semester I had a class where all of the tests were in class and online,” Shockley said.
Students without laptops would have to borrow one, and this program would help in situations like this one.
Katherine Morgan, junior from Evansville, Indiana, is a residential advisor in Springer College. She said that professors expect students to use Canvas, and that the laptop bank will be beneficial for students who can’t assess it themselves.
“As an RA, it’s definitely something I would recommend for residents to complete the amount of online work they have to do,” Morgan said.
The Laptop Bank provides laptops one semester at a time, and if available they can be used during the winter term. They’re not available during the summer terms due to IT maintenance.
Applications for SGA’s Laptop Bank Program can be found at TheNews.org and those wanting to know more about SGA can contact Barnes at msu.studentorganizations@murraystate.edu.