1. EDUCAUSE 2011
Three Paths, One Goal: Three Institutions’ Journey with Providing and Supporting
Mobile Technology
Bentley University, Waltham MA
Preparing for the MAC
Mike Davis (IT Project Manager)

2. About Bentley 4,000 undergrads 1,000 grad students
~500 faculty and staff
Business-centric school just southeast of Boston, MA
Has a Mobile Computing program, which provides students with a University laptop

3. The Status Quo
Bentley pushes a “expose students to what they will see in business” approach
Tight leash kept on a heavily-customized, internally created Windows image for all devices.
Only support for Mac laptops and iPhones was Internet and connectivity

4. A Call for Change
Undergraduate students began to clamor for increased support of all Mac mobile devices, especially iPad
Student Government IT group became a focal point for formal requests to IT
This soon morphed into a call for “choice”: Bentley should offer Mac laptops and PC laptops to students

5. Beginnings of a Plan
Once tide began, the Client Services group was charged with making plans to do a “pilot”
Small group of students would have a choice between a Windows Laptop and a Macbook
The Help Desk began to evaluate its current capacity/skill for broad Mac support

6. A Comprehensive Approach
Client Services realized quickly that making Macs work well in a Windows environment was a broader undertaking
Needed to consider:
Infrastructure and network needs: servers, security, bandwidth
Faculty needs: impact in classroom
Communication and training needed

7. Ahhh, Inclusiveness!
Conducted surveys of faculty to gauge comfort with Macs in class
Reached out to peer institutions to see how they tackle Macs
Worked with Academic Technology groups to ensure Mac-compatible software was available
Continual engagement with students

8. After much planning….
A pilot student laptop program was approved for Fall of 2012
IT group would purchase a variety of MAC devices for full academic year testing
Faculty agreed to research ways to teach to a mixed OS environment
Largest obstacle: supporting Boot Camp or Paralllels

9. Lessons Learned Listen to the voice of the students –to an extent!
Ensure that ALL of IT is on-board and on the same page.
Honestly assess your capabilities (support, infrastructure, training) before you leap!

10. Questions?
Feel free to reach out with any questions, or you own experiences!