NC State students won’t have to worry about their devices dying in Talley Student Union soon, thanks to a new charger loan system that will be implemented sometime next semester.
The charger loan initiative was the idea of student Sen. Mia Connell, a sophomore studying sociology.
“Talley is utilized as a place to study, to meet up with groups to work on projects, a place to get work done,” Connell said. “I think it’s a resource that is going to be used in Talley as well.”
Hampton Clark, a student senator and freshman studying engineering signed in the bill to assist Connell.
“I feel like this was important because we had a lot of positive feedback from students, and we’re here to represent students,” Clark said.
The feedback from students is compelling indeed. In a survey published by Connell, 88 percent of the 566 respondents indicated that they would use a charger loan system in Talley. Additionally, Tim Hogan, director of NC State Student Centers, has been “receptive,” according to Connell. When asked about this, Hogan replied in the affirmative.
One concern that students frequently voice regarding new features or services of campus is the cost, and what direct impacts this may have on them. In this case, no change will occur in fees for students. As Connell explained, the Association of Student Governments (ASG) has a certain sum of money from which schools can request funding for campus enrichment projects.
Although specific numbers are still pending, Connell did mention that their initial “guesstimate” of how much to request from ASG was $2,000.
Connell emphasized that the project is not her highest priority initiative at the moment, but is something that she thinks will have a high benefit return for a small investment.
“Generally speaking, it’s a very low cost investment, and our history on campus shows that it’s a widely used service, so I think it’s a very good use of resources,” Hogan said.
Conveniently, the charger loan system will mesh well with existing infrastructure. Since students can already check out video game equipment from the help desk at Talley, the charger rental will simply be added to the current arrangement.
One possible concern is that the chargers could be stolen, but Hogan indicated that no “malicious” theft or damage to any of the other items available for check-out in Talley has occurred, so that possibility is slim.
Hogan did mention a few potential problems with loss or damage to cords and adapters, but didn’t consider the issues serious.
“That’s just the cost of doing business, and we’re happy to help with that,” Hogan said.
The current plan for the program, as Connell explained, is to purchase a selection of the five most popular chargers checked out from the D.H. Hill loan system, and if the system is popular, expand from there.
Connell also hopes to have a means for students to indicate chargers that they would like to see added to the selection, so that the maximum number of people can benefit.
“We’re happy to work with student government to implement something that I think will benefit the general student population — I think there are plenty of folks interested in this,” Hogan said. “We’re very optimistic.”
Students watch the coin toss of Super Bowl 50 in Talley Student Union. The Carolina Panthers [BEAT/LOST TO] the Denver Broncos [SCORE] in Levi's Stadium, in Santa Clara, California Sunday. Several Panthers and Broncos fans showed up in their football fan gear to support their teams.
