NEWS
The PSOA apple store is in the middle of updates. Students are encouraged to visit the UWM Bookstore to purchase an Apple computer.

In its commitment to provide students with the best educational environment for the integration of new technologies with creative discovery, the Peck School of the Arts launches a laptop program for students. The program, which is being implemented in phases, originated with faculty members who wanted to ensure that their students had the necessary tools to succeed in their course work and beyond. The main goal of the laptop program is to provide the opportunity for students to work extensively and intuitively with the most significant contemporary tool for their work so that they will excel not only in their courses but also in their profession after they graduate.

The laptop program extends the existing instructional and open computer labs in the school and campus wide by incorporating the potential for each student to use their own portable computer within the labs, within the PSOA Art Center buildings that are equipped with wireless access to the internet, and within the student’s own living and working environment. By maintaining equal access to technology and software versions and equipping each student with the tools and the freedom to work in flexible environments outside of class, the laptop program will stimulate productivity and creativity. Access to support labs offering high-end peripherals for scanning and printing along with an expanding wireless network throughout the school will also allow for a more immediate interaction between students and faculty.

Phase I of the laptop program began in 2004/5 with the purchase of laptop computers for participating faculty members. This ensures that by fall 2005, faculty members will have experience using the laptop computers for teaching and can serve not only as teachers, but also as the mentors for students entering the program in fall 2005.

Beginning in the fall 2005 semester, upper level students within specific program areas in the Department of Visual Art (Art Education, Graphic Design, Photography, Printmaking), the Department of Theatre (Technical Production, Stage Management, Theatre Education), and Inter-Arts (DIVAS) will be required to have an Apple PowerBook laptop computer for their course work by the first day of class.

While the laptop requirement applies to students who have entered UWM in the fall of 2004 or after and have met the criteria for the participating programs, students who entered UWM prior to that date and who meet the program criteria within their area are strongly urged to purchase the laptop computer designated by the program. These students will be eligible for the same discount offered by Apple for the laptop program. If you have questions regarding laptop requirements, check with your program faculty.

This website has been designed as an information center for this second phase of the program. Here you can find information about participating programs, hardware requirements, software requirements, and support. There is a tutorial about how to purchase your equipment and software, a page of frequently asked questions (FAQs), an extensive knowledge base along with contact information for participating faculty. You may link directly to the Peck School of the Arts Apple Store where the required equipment can be purchased at a discounted price. Information about using financial aid to fund your laptop purchase is also provided. Finally, there is a feedback page through which students and faculty can provide comments on all aspects of the program, including this website, and its outcomes. Responses collected from the feedback form will be used to assess the laptop program.

In Phase III of the laptop program, existing computer labs will be remodeled and reconfigured to accommodate the use of laptops and wireless connectivity. The laptop requirement will be extended into the other departments of the PSOA as well as more deeply into the graduate programs. The recent plans for remodeling the Kenilworth building into a technologically enabled research facility for graduate students and faculty incorporates the importance of laptop computers as a typical working tool for the visual, musical and performing arts. The laptop program will remain flexible to respond to the changing needs of the creative activities of students studying in the Peck School of the Arts.