Several students mentioned that the deciding factor in selecting Villanova's business school was the use of laptop computers. One big selling point is that in the business world the Big Five accounting firms issue laptops to new employees, so laptops make good sense for accounting students in the transition to the business world. Prof. Kresch asked how much that would cost. With a Villanova standard, the student computer support center can provide a higher level of service. As a laptop user he feels access to a printer and the need for a backup hard drive are essential.
Network printing is available but picking up the printouts can be inconvenient.
He mentioned that there is a lot of sharing of resources among students. Regarding backups, there is no mechanism in the laptop itself for storing individual files, but an attachment can be added at negligible cost. He brought up the fact that large PowerPoint presentations consume much space. When students invest a lot of time and energy on a big project, backing them up on a floppy disk is out of the question. Mr. McGee agreed that the growth of this kind of presentation incurs additional cost.