Understanding loaner laptop options for faculty and staff

Overview

The LITS Technology Help Desk Loan program provides short term laptop loans for faculty and staff in situations where their only assigned computer is not available or practical.

Loaner laptops may not be directly requested. Members of the Asset Management Team will offer them where appropriate, and standard loans are often provided in the course of fulfilling another request. These situations include, but — at the Assets Management Team's discretion — are not limited to:

• Computer repair, whether the repair is being done in-house or shipped out, and expected to take more than a day to complete
• New employee, when their primary computer request is still in process on their start date
• College travel, where the main computer is a desktop but a portable machine is needed while traveling for a conference or other professional event
  • If traveling to an export-controlled location, there are additional requirements for the computer and user
  • If you're traveling for College business and need to borrow a laptop, please open a general support ticket to get the process started. Alternately, you may drop by the LITS Technology Help Desk in person or call 413-538-2600.

The computers available for loan are Dell and Apple portable (laptop) computers with varying specifications, subject to availability.

Borrower agreement and responsibilities

Review the Technology Help Desk Hardware Loan Agreement for details.

Typical loan periods

The default loan period is two weeks, and can be extended as needed.

What if I need a laptop for a different reason?

If you need an extra laptop for a different reason (ex. something like tabling or an event), laptops can be borrowed for up to 7 days at a time from the Circulation Desk. More details on borrowing a laptop from the Circulation Desk.