Recycling and Rebooting
Program provides computers, tech support to non-profit organizations
Each month Brian North, a student staff member of the Help Desk, watched as Computing and Information Services personnel loaded up a pickup with old computers and hauled the machines away to be recycled.
North, who graduated in 2002, asked if he could take some of the computers back to his hometown to be used in an after school program in Bristol , Va.
Much easier said than done, he was told.
Most of Furman's second-hand computers, in fact, are cleaned of data and redeployed on campus. Only the most obsolete computers are recycled. Besides, re-engineering antiquated computers for reuse would take a lot of work. Parts would have to be replaced, and licensed software would have to be removed.
North said he was willing to put in the work as a volunteer, and his friends on the Help Desk offered to pitch in, too.
“That really got us to thinking,” says Susan Dunnavant, manager of User Services. “Maybe we this could pull this off.”
They did.
To date, student and staff volunteers have placed more than 100 computers at deserving charities, most of them in the Greenville area. Recipients have included the Greenville Rescue Mission, YWCA, shelters for homeless and battered women and Newberry Public Schools.
Furthermore, Furman's involvement in “Operation Reboot” has spurred the university's supporting vendors to pitch in. Furniture, printers and even free internet access (provided by BellSouth and Charter Communications) have been donated through the program.
The program was honored with the Community Service Award at the 2003 Innovision Awards Ceremony November 12.
Operation Reboot does not stop giving once the systems are donated. Student volunteers install the computers, conduct on-site user training sessions and provide technical support when problems arise. When the recycled computer outlives its usefulness, Operation Reboot will provide a replacement if one is available.
“These are not high-end computers with the latest multimedia software,” says Dunnavant. “For most of our Reboot clients, participation is the difference between having no access to technology or good access to basic no-frills technology. The age of these systems makes them suitable only for very low-tier technology use.”
Here's how it works.
When computers, printers, monitors and hubs are tagged for the recycling, they are placed in a storage area awaiting pickup by a recycling vendor. Students and CIS volunteers scavenge memory, CD-Drives, hard drives to piece together reliable machines. Computec Services, a hardware services contractor, has partnered with Furman to provide licensed copies of an obsolete, but functional, version of Microsoft Office to be loaded on the hard drives.
Student volunteers, some of them holding advanced technical certifications, use Linux and other no-cost but high-tech operating systems and applications to network systems and protect them from viruses.
Once a charity is identified, a Reboot volunteer visits the agency to determine how the machines will be used. Computers are customized as much as possible and installed. When needed, volunteers provide on-site training and technical support.
To date, no non profit agency asking for help has been turned away. But as news of the program spreads and demand increases, Dunnavant hopes to formalize the program and involve an on-campus volunteer organization to help manage it.
Operation Reboot, she says, is a real world example of engaged learning.
“Our student volunteers gain practicable experience by piecing together these machines. They also develop articulation skills as they are placed in off-campus training situations,” she says. “And, of course, it's for a great cause.”
Inside Furman is published monthly during the school year by the Furman University Department of Marketing and Public Relations. For story ideas, e-mail John Roberts, editor.
