Student Estefeni Ramirez gets ready to use her student ID to check out one of the free laptops available to students.
Staff Photo | Elisabeth Lively
By Adriana Elizondo
Staff Writer
“Rent me for free” is not something you hear that often, but Northeast Texas Community College is one of the exceptions. Getting your hands on a laptop is now as easy as swiping your myEagle card for students currently enrolled at NTCC that don’t have any orientation or financial holds.
As part of the Title V grant given to NTCC, students can now take advantage of checking out a laptop from one of the two kiosks located in the Business Technology building and the Student Union Building.
Each Kiosk has six laptops available for students to use, based on a first come, first serve basis.
“It can definitely be an obstacle to reach success when students don’t have the technology at home that they need,” Director of Title V Co-op Grant Jennifer Myers said.
“Our rental program will provide students with reliable, no cost to them, laptops. We don’t want our students to feel like we didn’t give them all the resources possible to succeed.“
Since the rental laptop kiosks made their debut on campus this past summer, student Estefeni Ramirez, was among one of the first to try them out. Ramirez said finding out about the laptops was a coincidence while she was visiting the college bookstore.
“During the summer, I stopped by very frequently,” Ramirez said. “It was nice to know that if my personal computer did not work, I could use a computer from the kiosk completely free to finish my assignments.”
Students who need to checkout a laptop can rent one for a 24 hour period but can return it back sooner. If a student needs it for more than 24 hours, it is as simple as checking it back in then checking it out a second time.
Chargers are also available upon request if needed and can be checked out from a member of the transfer support team in the BT building.
When checking out a laptop, students will be prompted with an agreement that will hold them accountable for any damage or loss of the laptop, a $25 late fee will be applied if a computer is kept for more than 24 hours after a first warning is given.
If a student is having an issue with a laptop, they are urged to return the laptop to the kiosk and let a transfer support staff member know that the laptop they checked out did not work properly.
Any data left on the laptop after returning gets wiped clean to protect privacy information for each student, which is why students are encouraged to back up their documents to the Cloud or a USB drive.
Don’t miss out on this valuable opportunity to excel your educational opportunities for free!