Staff Senate addresses a lack of access to digital technology among staff members through its Computer Loan Program and Digital Access and Inclusion Project.
According to a survey conducted by Staff Senate with a sample of housekeeping and dining employees, 80% of staff members reported having difficulty accessing digital technology. Through the Digital Access and Inclusion Project and Computer Loan Program, Staff Senate plans to ensure staff members at NC State have access to digital technology and have opportunities to develop their technology skills.
To be eligible to participate in the Computer Loan Program, participants must be an NC State staff member making less than $40,000 a year, a permanent employee and work at least 35 hours a week.
Joe Sutton, an integration and solutions information technology professional for Industry Expansion and Solutions and vice chair of Staff Senate, said this usually applies to staff like housekeepers, groundskeepers and any other staff member who don’t usually use a computer in their day-to-day jobs.
Sutton said the Computer Loan Program mirrors Staff Senate’s Digital Access and Inclusion Project by giving staff members who face barriers in using digital technology the resources they need to improve their skills. Jill Phipps, accounting assistant for the Office of Information, Technology and Business Services and chair of Staff Senate, said by improving their computer skills, some employees have been able to improve their job level and get hired for more advanced positions.
“This will help develop them to build their confidence to apply for jobs down the road that may come up, so if they can’t afford to buy [a computer], at least they have this route that they can go and use it as a tool to help them grow,” Phipps said.
Phipps said when people sign up to get a computer loan, they have the option of getting a quick tutorial on how to use the basic functions of the computer like logging in and using web browsers. Sutton said they can also refer participants to other places for free classes.
“We also refer them to [Office of Information and Technology] for classes on Google Apps, and a few other ones around campus, as well as free ones out there like Khan Academy,” Sutton said.
Sutton said providing staff members with computers also helps with their professional development by allowing them to participate in online learning through online universities and community colleges.
Sutton said the computers used in the Computer Loan Program are old computers from departments across campus that would usually get sent to Surplus Property Services where old university property gets sold.
“After a couple years, usually when a warranty runs out, [University departments] will buy new computers, and they’ll send [their old] computers usually to Surplus, but now we’re getting them before they go to Surplus,” Sutton said. “They’ll come to us, we’ll erase everything, reload Windows on there, web browsers and then we’ll loan them out to people.”
Phipps said she encourages people of the NC State community to donate old equipment to Staff Senate to be used as a part of this project.
“Before you surplus any of your equipment, allow Staff Senate the opportunity first to get them as donations, because … in our opinion, we feel like this project is gonna really expand to a lot of other people needing computers and wanting to grow their skill set,” Phipps said.
For more information on the Staff Senate Computer Loan Program, check out the Staff Senate website at staffsenate.ncsu.edu/initiatives/computer-loan-program/.
