FAU Students Aided By The New Laptop Loaner Program

First Generation students learning from home now have access to Florida Atlantic University’s new Laptop Loaner Program. 

In response to COVID-19, the Johnson Scholarship Foundation recently awarded FAU’s Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management a grant of $45,000. The grant is going towards 75 additional laptops for first-generation and low-income students at FAU. 

The program is apart of a collaborative effort between FAU’s Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, the Office of Student Financial Aid, and the FAU Library.

The Laptop Loaner Program is the first of its kind that is directed specifically towards first-generation students like Jorge Rodriguez and Ondre Reid.

Finance major, Jorge Rodriguez had no idea that the laptops are available for students to use off-campus for as long as needed in the comfort of their own home. 

Rodriguez will be graduating this summer with a degree in Finance but his plans were almost put in jeopardy when he had an exam to take and his own computer did not meet the software requirements.

Like many professors who had to manage using new software due to COVID-19, Rodriguez’s professor did not realize the proctoring software for the test would cause him to need a whole new laptop. 

Fortunately, Rodriguez worked with the Student Financial Aid Associate Director, Ana Gagula to pick up a laptop from FAU libraries just in time to take his exam. 

“The laptop loaner program saved my life because I would have had to spend about $500 on a laptop to use it once, it got me out of a situation where I had no other options,” said Rodriguez.  

FAU students who are the most vulnerable to not having access to a laptop at home are given first priority. But the Director of First Generation Student Success for FAU’s Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, Keven Allen Jr, M.ED intends for the program to be available for all students who need assistance on a case by case basis. 

Freshman students who are first-generation to attend college are a major concern for Allen because they must adapt to the majority of their classes being online. 

Allen intends to make sure no students are struggling to get the access they need to complete their course work. 

“This program helps us ensure that students are graduating and our marginalized populations have an equal opportunity to access technology,” said Allen. 

FAU Neuroscience Major, Ondre Reid worried he was ineligible to receive a laptop because he had exceeded his financial aid but his mentors did not let him give up.

Reid moved to the U.S. when he was only 16 years old and soon after worked as a research assistant at the University of Miami. 

As a father raising his son alone and a first generation student Reid decided to go back to school for a degree in Neuroscience from FAU. 

Reid does his work on campus in the graduate lab from 8 am to 8 pm before going home to cook and clean and take care of his son. 

Reid preferred traditional in person classes but he decided that a laptop would be more useful during the pandemic for his academic success. 

Reid got encouragement to reach out to the financial aid office from Senior instructor Dr. Evelyn Frazier, Dr. Jennifer Krill, and Dr. David Bjorklund. 

After working with Financial aid and the FAU Library, Reid quickly adapted to online learning and does not know what he would do without it. 

“I would not be able to be successful this semester with this amazing program. It became an intricate part of my life ” said Reid. 

Reid says he wants to encourage other students who fear they might be ineligible or unqualified to receive a laptop to ask for help especially if they are struggling with online learning. 

FAU students are able to request an extension for the laptop loaner program if they need it longer than a full semester. 

To find out more information about the Laptop Loaner Program, you can visit FAU’s website.