Stan Bennett and Kathleen Burke attended a conference in Florida and learned that large universities are doing this on a pilot basis. The idea of doing this college by college might be a good approach, although there are a lot of cross college registrations. This would be required for incoming students, not those currently enrolled. The report from the Florida conference also indicated that there were a number of support issues. Some institutions are having the students get the computers when they arrive on campus so that they can be preloaded with software at the optimum time.
Marketing has to be addressed.
The web pages provide information about the use of technology by students at the university. It has been hard to nail down the deals that other institutions are receiving from vendors. The price breaks are determined on the number of units to be sold using specific specifications. If a student already owns a computer they will not be required to purchase another computer. The university will need to work with preferred vendors on developing pricing.