Starting in fall 2022, Winthrop will be requiring that all students have personal laptops in order to complete their schoolwork.
During a quarterly meeting on October 29, 2021, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the decision for the school to require laptops in fall 2022. Winthrop students received an email on March 30 with information concerning this decision.
“We take student success seriously, and we saw during the pandemic that it was a challenge for some students to complete assignments due to technology at hand,” said Interim President George Hynd, according to the press release on Winthrop’s website.
The press release said the inclusion of laptops would create more flexibility for faculty members to add videos, audio, and other graphics during their lectures. The laptops will give accessibility to the students in these situations.
Many current students on campus are frustrated and concerned for how they and some of their classmates will be able to afford a laptop, in addition to how the requirement may change their class format.
“My first concern is the laptop and electronics policy in the syllabus of many professors,” said English graduate student Stephanie Martin. “I am aware of many professors who do not allow technology in their classrooms at all.”
The Board of Trustees acknowledges that buying a laptop on such short notice may be a problem for some students and is allowing some students to participate in the laptop loaner program from Dacus Library. However, there is a limited supply, so this will not be an option for many students.
“I am also concerned that Winthrop is not considering the added financial burden that will impact students if they are required to get a laptop,” Martin said. “Winthrop has stated that students can use their financial aid to pay for a laptop, but that only works on the assumption that students will receive a refund check and have enough money in that check to afford the device.”
Consequences for students who do not purchase laptops are still being discussed, according to Judy Longshaw, Winthrop news and service manager.
No computer labs are currently set to be removed, Longshaw said, but that may be considered in the future.
“There may be some general use labs that are no longer needed once everyone has a laptop. Those spaces may be converted to classrooms or other purposes that align better with the university’s priorities,” Longshaw said.
“I have several friends who have been using a desktop for online work because it is all they had at home and cannot afford a laptop,” said Harper Kirk, a junior theatre education major. “I just think Winthrop is more concerned with their image as a progressive school, and they are not thinking about logistically what students have to do to meet their standards.”
In preparation for the laptop requirement, Winthrop will be holding its second laptop fair on April 21 in the DiGiorgio Campus Center lobby from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. At the event, information will be provided concerning paying for laptops, loaner programs and required software.
