Graduating students will receive an email with detailed information regarding the paperwork needed to take ownership of their laptops after some seniors expressed confusion about the process, according to PC support services.
John D. Fernandes, director of PCSS, said an email will be sent to graduating students in the first week of May, as planned.
The University's Chief Information Officer Stephen Landry said graduating seniors must sign some paperwork in order to take their laptops and effectively use them after graduation.
"Once the paperwork is completed, PCSS will take care of everything else," Landry said.
The document students must complete is a "Transfer of Ownership" sheet, which once signed, will give students full control of and responsibility for their laptops, Fernandes said.
"Once the ownership is signed, this will indicate that Seton Hall University will no longer be responsible and liable for any future use of the laptop, the repair or maintenance of hardware or the upgrade of software," Fernandes said, though he added that current graduating students' T510 laptops will still be covered under the Lenovo Warranty until April of 2013.
He said students can fill out the ownership document at cap and gown pick-up, which will take place on May 8, 10 and 16 in the Duffy Hall Grad Lounge. Students must bring their laptops and student ID card with them to the cap and gown distribution, according to Seton Hall's website.
Senior Marissa Breton said she was one of the students who were unaware of the actions she needed to complete to take her laptop with her and use it after graduation.
"I thought we just kept them," Breton said. "This is the first I've heard about any sort of 'process.'"
Breton added that she felt PCSS had not done a particularly good job of informing students about the requirements.
"I check my email every day and I have a pretty good handle on what's happening on campus," Breton said. "It's weird I haven't heard anything."
Senior Carolyn Taggart said she knew she had to sign a document to take ownership of her laptop, but she was unsure of the details.
"I think (the Transfer of Ownership) was on the contract I signed when I got my MacBook," Taggart said.
According to the website, fifth-year seniors who opted to refresh their laptop a second time will be charged an "appropriate" buy-out fee, which will be posted to the student's bursar account. Students must pay this fee to take ownership of their laptops. This fee was included in the contracts the students signed when they did a second laptop refresh, Fernandes said.
Fernandes said the Transfer of Ownership document ensured that students could still use their laptop after they graduated from Seton Hall.
"After about a month after graduating, former students will no longer have access to a number of the University's online services, including PirateNet and SHU email," Fernandes said. "However, former students who have completed the transfer of ownership document should not be locked out of their laptop."
Fernandes said that in rare cases, former students may still have issues because of a Windows corruption error.
"This error message may lead the user to incorrectly assume the University has locked them out of their computer," Fernandes said.
He added that though the University was not authorized to make warranty repairs for anyone except for current students, faculty and employees, "we are able and willing to fix any problems with the laptop that might have started before a student graduated," including the corruption error.
If PC Support Services cannot fix the laptop they can refer the user to a Lenovo authorized full service repair center, Fernandes said.
There are no costs associated with the transfer of ownership of the laptop. Fernandes said that if there needs to be a repair to the computer due to accidental damage, or if a student chooses to have a cosmetic repair prior to graduation, they may incur costs for parts up to $125.00.
Caitlin Carroll can be reached at Caitlin.carroll@student.shu.edu.
