Pictured above: According to Student Body President Jazzy Duarte, more than 100 laptops were ordered for the St. Petersburg campus, and the library offered 14 of its already-owned laptops for students to borrow.
Crow’s Nest file photo
By Katlynn Mullins
Classes have moved online through the summer, the Nelson Poynter Memorial library has closed and student residents have to be out of their dorms by April 6 unless they qualify for an exception.
There’s a problem, though. What if these students don’t have access to a computer?
That’s where the laptop loan program comes in.
“I’ve seen a couple of universities around Florida and the U.S. offering laptop rental services to students in need due to the COVID-19 outbreak,” said Jadzia “Jazzy” Duarte, USF St. Petersburg’s student body president, in an email.
As a result, Student Government partnered with administration and other on-campus organizations to implement a laptop loan program.
The program allows students to borrow a laptop for the remainder of the semester that can be renewed for the summer, said Catherine Cardwell, dean of the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library.
But according to Duarte, “there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes before a student may get the laptop.”
The process begins with an email to Compass Student Success Advocates to report a student’s need. The email can come from students, faculty or staff, said Cardwell.
After the advocates give their approval, the application gets moved through Academic Advising, Financial Aid and then ends in the library, where students go to pick up their laptop.
“The library has reduced contact as much as possible,” Cardwell said. “Once Advising and Financial Aid vet the student’s request, the library contacts the student by email and lets them know a laptop is available.”
If the student is still interested, they sign an agreement through DocuSign, and the library responds with a time and location for pickup.
At that time, the student shows their student ID “through the glass,” and a library staff member hands off the laptop “very carefully” through the sliding glass door.
“The student doesn’t come into the library,” Cardwell said. “The handoff takes only a moment.”
According to Duarte, more than 100 laptops were ordered for the St. Petersburg campus, and the library offered 14 of its already-owned laptops for students to borrow.
Running the numbers
Overall, SG contributed $15,000 in Activities and Services fees to the laptop rentals, and the university administration matched that figure with Education and General funds.
A&S fees are pulled from student tuition fees, which are allocated every year by Student Government.
The contributions came from “funds that will no longer be used due to us moving to remote processes,” Duarte said.
E&G funds are “appropriated by the legislature to the USF System,” Cardwell said. These funds include general revenue — pulled primarily from Florida’s sales tax — and tuition.
“Obviously, working remotely hasn’t been easy,” Cardwell said. “But everyone is still giving their 100 percent to help support the students in any way possible.”
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