Every Berea College student is receiving a personal laptop computer as they arrive on campus for the start of the new school year. The distribution of the 1,500 laptops is part of the EDGE (Empowering a Dynamic Generation through Education) program which fully implements the College's four-year Universal Access initiative to support teaching and learning "anywhere, anytime" on campus.

Distribution of the laptops began Monday, August 19 for students currently on campus and will continue for a few days following the first day of classes, Wednesday, August 28.
In the 2002-03 school year and in subsequent years, all Berea students, both full-time and part-time, will be participants in EDGE , receiving laptop computers for use while they are enrolled. When students obtain junior classification they will receive a new laptop computer which is theirs to keep upon graduating from the College. This fall, seniors are receiving a Dell Latitude C500 model laptop while freshmen, sophomores and juniors are receiving the Dell Latitude C510 model. The computer-maker was chosen following extensive testing and a campus-wide evaluation of nine different models.

" Early bird" distribution, which includes a 40 minute orientation session, is taking place from 9 a.m. - 12 noon and 1:30-4:30 through Saturday August 24 on the 3rd floor of the Bruce Building, where Information Systems and Services staff have been preparing the laptops this summer. The process will continue through next week, with all students scheduled to be equipped and trained in use of the laptops by Monday, Sept. 2.

The term "universal access" at Berea means access for all students to an educational environment in which information is one of the foci around which the educational program revolves, facilitating a diverse set of teaching styles and education aims. The Universal Access initiative arises from the College's 1998 strategic plan "Being and Becoming" that suggests that "student access to networked resources be enhanced by providing students with portable computers and extending the network into classrooms, the Library and residence hall rooms." During the past four years, the College created a reliable and flexible infrastructure with many access points by upgrading the network backbone, networking virtually all campus buildings and installing approximately 3,500 network connections throughout the campus.
From 2000-2002, approximately 450 students took part in two pilot projects designed to gather information about students' full range of experience with the computers, both inside and outside of class, in preparation for this year's distribution to all students.

For additional information on the EDGE student laptop project and Berea's Universal Access initiative contact Martin Ramsay, director of Information Systems and Services, at 859-985-3990.