Refurbished Computer Giveaway: Creatively Supporting Student Success Through Technology

Metropolitan State University of Denver serves a diverse student population, with significant percentages of enrolled students experiencing housing insecurity and food insecurity during the academic year. A percentage of students also lack reliable access to technology resources, preventing them from completing coursework at home and causing them to fall behind. The Information Technology Services department strives to provide our students with the technology they need to become successful during their time at MSU Denver. With this is mind and in hopes of providing the best educational experience for our students, the ITS department identified an opportunity to refurbish and distribute out of service laptops and desktops to the student population rather than disposition these devices. As such, ITS designed and hosted their first lottery-based refurbished computer giveaway in April 2019 for students, issuing 160 devices to students selected from over 2,600 initial reservations. This poster session will provide an overview of the program developed, challenges faced and the results of the first year of the initiative, as well as goals for future years of the service offering.