The Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) will unveil a new laptop lending program this March.

The new initiative comes in response to the termination of a similar program run by the university in the beginning of the academic year due to budget cuts.

“Given that some funds had accumulated since Winter 2010, we had the opportunity to make a large impact by creating a laptop lending program,” said AUS President Justin Fletcher

Funding for the program—a total of $120,000—will derive from the Arts Computer Lab Fund, created in Winter 2010, to which all Arts students pay an opt-outable $9.80 fee per semester. The program will be administered by the Ferrier Computer Lab, which is managed by McGill staff members.

Funding was ratified at last Wednesday’s AUS Council meeting, following approval of the program’s budget by the fund’s committee earlier the same day. The committee is comprised of the AUS president, the AUS vice president finance, the dean of Arts, and the associate dean (academic administration and oversight) of Arts, and two student representatives.

After months of consultation by the committee, the program’s budget will be allocated towards the purchase of 20 Apple laptops, 20 Lenovo laptops, anti-theft software, and assorted computer programs.

According to Erin Sobat, a student representative of the committee, development of the program began when the university library system ended its laptop lending program in September.

“Once it was established that the library would not be able to reintroduce a sustainable lending program […] it was decided that the best course of action was to move to a faculty-specific model—such as those that already exist for Education and Management,” he said.

According to Fletcher, who also serves as Chair of the committee, the development of the program underwent extensive research before approval.

“We’ve worked closely to build this budget to make sure that we have a solid program,” he said. “We did research by talking to [representatives at] the Sandiford Lab in the Bronfman Building, and we spoke to [representatives] at the Education Building on their laptop lending program, and we also spoke with the […] people at the library who worked on the laptop lending program, so that way, we could have a program that had the best features of all three to best support the needs of our students.”

Fletcher said that the project proposal did not face criticism.

“There were concerns about lost or stolen laptops, [but] we have a really good warranty to protect the laptops in case there’s any damage,” he said. “There have been concerns about liability, but knowing how well others have worked, that’s given us a good model on how to construct this program.”

Fletcher emphasized the usefulness of the program for students.

“Having access to laptops is an urgent need for students,” Fletcher said. “I’ve been in a situation where my laptop stops working and I need something, or I want to use a laptop for a presentation. So I’m really glad that we’re able to provide a service through the Faculty of Arts.”

Some students, such as Mary Guay, U2 Arts, also expressed support for the announcement of the new program.

“I think it’s great that a faculty is stepping in for it,” Guay said. “I think most people don’t realize it’s utilized, but for the select few, it is very useful.”