Four Higher Education Institutions Tap CDW-G to Provide Laptops for Incoming Students; Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Marist
September 20 2006 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
CDW Government, Inc. (CDW-G), a wholly owned subsidiary of CDW
Corporation (NASDAQ:CDWC) and leading source of Information
Technology (IT) solutions to governments and educators, today
announced that it will provide technology for 1:1 computing
initiatives at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Marist College,
Purdue University and Virginia Tech. These programs promote
campus-wide technology standardization, improve efficiency of
on-campus support and enhance students' learning environment.
Hobart and William Smith Colleges Located in Geneva, N.Y., Hobart
and William Smith Colleges has a student population of 1,900 and is
composed of two liberal arts colleges - Hobart College for men and
William Smith College for women. With more than 90 percent of
incoming students bringing their own computers to school, the
colleges' IT Services had difficulty connecting every student at
the beginning of the school year because many students brought
equipment that did not meet the colleges' recommended guidelines.
In order to standardize technology campus-wide and improve support
to students, Hobart and William Smith Colleges selected CDW-G to
provide Lenovo ThinkPad T60 and Lenovo ThinkPad Z61m notebook PCs;
Lenovo ThinkPad X41 tablet PCs; and accessories including Kingston
USB flash drives, Samsung digital player/voice recorders and HP
printers. Students and parents can contact CDW-G directly with
questions and concerns, reducing phone calls to the colleges' IT
staff. In addition, CDW-G loads Hobart and William Smith's image -
including Symantec and Microsoft software - onto each machine,
standardizing and accelerating the network registration process.
CDW-G delivers the machines directly to the colleges, allowing the
IT Services staff to have them ready to connect immediately when
the students arrive for orientation. Hobart and William Smith
Colleges are an authorized service provider, offering students
on-site repair covering their four-year equipment warranty. "Prior
to the program starting, we had so many troubleshooting calls, it
took several weeks to get all students connected at the beginning
of the semester," said Beverly Ilacqua, director of program
management, Hobart and William Smith Colleges. "By standardizing
technology and working with CDW-G, we are able to provide excellent
technology options to our students and improve support." Marist
College Marist College is an independent, coeducational liberal
arts college in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., with 3,000 undergraduate
students. It has been hailed by Forbes and The Princeton Review as
one of the 25 "most connected campuses" in America. Marist College
adopted a 1:1 computing model to standardize technology
campus-wide, selecting CDW-G as its technology partner to implement
the program and offer Lenovo ThinkPad R60, T60 and Z Series laptops
to incoming students. CDW-G will load each computer with a
customized Marist image including software from McAfee and
Microsoft, as well as unique Marist College settings. This image
standardizes the network registration process, enabling students to
connect to the network more quickly. It also enhances security for
student computers and campus network resources. Marist now is able
to offer warranty services on site due to the standardization of
computers on campus. IT staff members are certified to make repairs
for students participating in the 1:1 program, minimizing the time
students will spend without their computers. CDW-G and Lenovo also
worked with Marist to provide loaner laptops as needed. "We chose
CDW-G for our 1:1 program because of the company's responsiveness
to our needs," said Jeanne DeLongis, Marist College PC technologies
manager. "CDW-G takes the time to talk to students and parents when
they have questions. Many parents have noted that CDW-G helped ease
the transition process for their children as they began college.
That is a significant service to us." Purdue University Located in
West Lafayette, Ind., Purdue University has 38,712 students on its
main campus. The statewide university system includes five campuses
and numerous teaching and research sites with a total enrollment of
69,098 students. "As laptop computers become more ubiquitous on
higher education campuses, Purdue University is working with CDW-G
to ease the decision-making process for incoming students and
provide three computer options at a discounted price, including a
four-year warranty," said Byron Reed, Purdue University interim
director of learning spaces for Information Technology. Students
can purchase HP Compaq nc6320 notebook PCs and HP Compaq tc4200
tablet PCs, as well as a series of accessories - including bags,
external keyboards, monitors, travel batteries, docking stations
and printers - from CDW-G. CDW-G also will load each computer with
Purdue's custom image, allowing students to use their new laptops
right out of the box. The comprehensive service component is
another important part of the 1:1 program. AME, a leading
information technology service provider local to Indiana, maintains
a location on the West Lafayette campus with staff available to
help students with warranty problems and fix laptops onsite.
Absolute Software, a leader in PC theft recovery located in
Vancouver, British Columbia, will provide security and tracking
software, in order to deter laptop theft and recover stolen
computers. Virginia Tech The College of Engineering at Virginia
Tech, located in Blacksburg, Va., is internationally recognized for
its excellence in 14 engineering disciplines and computer science
for its 5,500 undergraduate students. The College of Engineering
now requires all incoming students to purchase a tablet PC and
recommends that they select the Fujitsu Lifebook(R) T4000,
delivered through CDW-G. The tablet PC includes a conventional mode
for keyboard typing, as well as a capability that allows students
to make handwritten notes, sketch their designs and participate in
classroom presentations and exercises, using an electronic pen. By
working closely with CDW-G, Fujitsu and Microsoft, Virginia Tech
aims to provide engineering students, faculty and staff with the
technology, training and support they need to succeed in the field,
while enabling them to participate in a hands-on interactive
learning experience. "Higher education institutions' IT departments
face a variety of challenges - from implementing wireless networks
on campus to providing on-campus computing support, while also
facing the overwhelming challenge of improving network security, "
said Julie Smith, CDW-G director of higher education. "CDW-G is the
provider of choice to many colleges and universities because they
can benefit from the best the industry has to offer by choosing
from more than 1,000 technology brands. We are pleased to work with
Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Marist College, Purdue
University and Virginia Tech to offer 1:1 computing programs that
provide students, faculty and staff with an interactive learning
environment and superior technical support." For more information
or to find out how to purchase a computer through one of these
programs, please visit www.cdwg.com/education. About CDW-G A wholly
owned subsidiary of CDW Corporation (NASDAQ:CDWC), a FORTUNE 500
company, CDW Government (CDW-G) is a trusted technology advisor to
federal, state and local government agencies, as well as to
educational institutions at all levels. CDW-G offers best-in-class
technology products and services from top-name brands such as Acer,
Adobe, Cisco, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Microsoft, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony,
Symantec, and Toshiba. For more information about CDW-G product
offerings, procurement options, service and solutions, call
1.800.863.4239, or visit the CDW-G Web site at CDWG.com.
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