By Rocco Colella

Visual arts students, from animation majors to graphic design majors, may soon be required to own their own computers.

The requirement is a curriculum change administrators within the department said they hope will lessen student dependence on computer labs and encourage them to work on projects during their own leisure time.

Technical Director of the Multimedia Department Cynthia Baron said visual arts department officials have discussed the pros and cons of this new requirement, but understand it would be a major policy change. A change of this sort would entail an intense review through both the College of Arts and Sciences and the Provost’s Office, she said.

The idea has been shared with visual arts students through e-mail in order to get their input on the idea of having students be required to own their own computers, she said.

The visual arts program currently has over 300 participating students, which is large for an art program, said department chair Kali Nikitas. She said she is excited at the idea of “not having students held within the confines of a computer lab.”

Nikitas said students having their own computers would prevent students from relying on the computer labs within classroom buildings. Even if students are not able to immediately own their own computer, Nikitas said she hopes to have laptop computers available for students to check out, similarly to books and media in the library. She plans on making space in the labs for laptop users.

Funding for these “wireless computer labs” would have to come from the university, Baron said.

“We have asked the university for funding, but we don’t know how high on the priority list our request was rated,” she said.

Jim Sarazen, director of financial affairs and information technology in the College of Arts and Sciences, said it will be another two to three weeks before a decision is made on the department’s request for funding.

“They’re starting a lot of interest in changes over there, they have a chair who is very dynamic,” he said. However, he said, there “is never enough funding to fund everything.”

Although the money may not be available, recent graduate and former computer lab monitor Lisa Perry said the laptop stations are a great idea, and will give students the flexibility to work in labs as groups or on their own.

“Students can come and work together if they want. Plus, when the labs are closed for vacation, they can work at home or during the late hours if they are more productive then,” she said.

Perry said, however, sometimes working in the labs can be more rewarding than working at home.

“Often there are classmates who do their own work from home,” she said. “We don’t see these people in the labs at all and I think they can miss out on some valuable input from other people working on similar projects.”

The department, hoping to encourage students who don’t already own a computer to purchase one, has offered a student discount on Apple computers.

“The offer is not available to the general NU population, because it is a test case within the department,” she said, and added that the number of discounts was limited to 60. Baron was in charge of sending out target e-mails to students asking if they would take advantage of the offer.

The discounts are for those students who responded affirmatively to those e-mails, she said.

Nikitas said the one part of her job that she prides the most is finding the best computer deals possible for visual arts students.

“If we can buy more computers at once, they will individually cost less,” she said. “This works out best for both the program and the students. We want to create a culture where not having a computer accessible to you 24/7 would be a deficit.”

Lab monitor and multimedia studies major Erin Genett said she thinks the discount is a great opportunity for visual arts students to purchase their own computer, but also stressed the importance of the lab atmosphere.

“As artists, it is nice to still have studio space to work with and interact with people doing similar projects, even if it is now digital,” she said.