The Office of Information Technology is looking into the option of reducing computer labs by at least 50 percent and will strongly encourage students to have laptops to cut energy costs, according to OIT Director of Outreach Communications and Consulting Stan North Martin.
The goal of reducing energy consumption is good and necessary for cutting costs, especially when the University is facing a $36 million budget deficit in 2009-10, but the option of having an across-the-board cut in computers in computer labs is inadequate and insufficient.
The University expects to continue enrollment growth, and it will not be possible to maintain the quality of education while cutting the amount of computers on campus.
Because the University does not require students to have laptop computers, financial aid does not cover the cost of them. And because the University does not require each to student to have a personal computer, computer programs are also not covered by financial aid, which may end up costing more than the price of a laptop.
Though it is too late to require students to have laptops for the 2009-10 school year, the University should look into the option of requiring freshmen to have them for 2010-11.
UNC-Chapel Hill began requiring its freshman to have laptops in 2000 and years following, according to The Daily Tar Heel. Though Carolina does not have as much of a focus on technology as NCSU, it has ranked consistently in the top schools in the nation by the Princeton Review.
Reducing the amount of computers on campus while not requiring students to have laptops would reduce the quality of education at the University.
Another obstacle the OIT faces is the people who depend on computer labs to print.
If the University decides to decommission computers in labs, then the OIT must be able to sync laptops with printers to meet demand.
The idea of cutting some computer labs to cut energy costs is good, but the methods OIT is considering are deficient. This problem cannot be solved in a couple of months. Any reasonable solution to this problem takes time, compromise and input from every part of campus.