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LIU Brooklyn Campus Extends iPad Program
Brooklyn Campus of Long Island University is expanding a program it implemented earlier this semester to provide its students with Apple iPads.
The institution's initial iPad pilot program began delivering free iPads to all full-time incoming freshmen and undergraduate transfer students this semester. Preparations for the program included a $100,000 investment in its wireless infrastructure, beefing up the number of access points at six locations in the process. About 3,500 students received iPads during the initial phase of the program.
Now the Brooklyn Campus is expanding that initial pilot to all of its students, though it will not be supplying the devices completely free. The university said it will provide iPads at a discount to full-time students who did not qualify for the initial pilot, charging sophomores, juniors, and seniors $250 for an iPad, underwriting the rest.
The university said the program is designed to help students "connect with classmates, faculty members and advisers; organize, store and share files, assignments and presentations; access their academic and financial aid records; download digital books; take notes in class; and conduct research online."
"We are delighted to put this cutting-edge device in our students' hands," said Gale Stevens Haynes, provost of the Brooklyn Campus, in a prepared statement. "This initiative reflects our ongoing commitment to ensure that our students get access to the latest tools to enable them to learn, to compete and to thrive in our rapidly evolving world."
In order to qualify for the discounted iPad, students have to have completed at least 24 units during the 2009-2010 school year and to have registered for at least 12 credits for the spring 2011 semester. The university is allowing students who take advantage of the offer to spread payments over the course of the fall semester in fur payments. The units are being delivered to students this month.
Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus serves more than 11,000 students.