Introduction
The Spirit of the Equipment Loan Program
The Equipment Loan Program is established and maintained to best ensure equitable opportunity, access and utilization of equipment by Loyola students primarily for individual, academic pursuits. The loan program affords students, who are currently active in coursework, the ability to take advantage of the wide array of resources that might not otherwise be available to them individually. These resources are intended to allow discovery of emerging and established equipment and tools, develop and create exciting content, deliver multimedia projects or merely fulfill needs to maintain and seamlessly continue with tasks using available technology. Access is available to active faculty and staff individually with similar intents focused on cultivating rich, multi-media for the benefit of the Loyola Community.
1.1 Establishing Policies, Terms and Conditions
The policies, procedures, terms, and conditions described herein exist to best serve the Loyola community with the resources provided by the Equipment Loan Program. This encompasses policies and steps to best ensure equitable access and utilization that serve the intentions of the spirit of the program itself. Based on the scope and equipment availability, each checkout "checkout allocation", requires clients to reserve the equipment in advance. By submitting a reservation request, clients have access to review the Loan Program Policies and upon pickup, confirm agreement to these policies and associated responsibilities.
1.2 Related ITS and University Policies
As part of the Division of Information Technology Services, members of both DMS staff and clients are bound to not only the policies outlined here, but also to those associated identified by ITS and the University. Some key ITS Policies & Guidelines include the following:
Students using the loan program are also bound to the Community Standards (Loyola’s Student Code of Conduct), faculty and staff are similarly bound to Human Resources Policies (such as the Conflict Of Interest Policy and Guidelines For Recording Students During Online Classes). For a full list of policies, visit the University Policies website.
1.3 Policy Modifications and Amendments
Digital Media Services (DMS) updates and refreshes equipment within the loan program regularly based on numerous factors. Refresh of equipment kit types are generally defined in two-year cycles, but is subject to demand for utilization, overall durability and lifespan of the equipment, and manufacturer updates to product lines. As technology-driven needs can change rapidly in the world, we strive to meet these ongoing demands for our students. These loan program policies are evaluated on a semester-to-semester basis to best ensure, with additions, changes in demand or shifts as new equipment is integrated into the program, that overall usage remains equitable at an individual level while providing transparency regarding changes and updates. We reserve the rights to amend and modify these policies in order to maintain the goals and intentions associated to the spirit of the loan program.
Updates for AY24-25
- Fine Appeals, subsection 12.6 "Three Strikes" Appeal Considerations updated (11/13/24)
With the positive introduction of renewals, we have seen a slight trend upward with fine appeal submissions. As a result, we've shifted our language from "One-Time Exception" to a "Three Strikes" process, affording the potential of 2 appeals to be granted if meeting appeal criteria, and the third and final instance requiring Fine Remediation Training. These policies were implemented at the start of the Fall '24 Semester, subsequent updates to text here was done mid-semester. An additional update to the "Fines & Payments" page was made to correct formatting issues. - Reservation & Renewals, subsection 6.3.1 Self-Service Renewals, renewal period extended (08/16/24)
Due to ongoing success with self-service renewals via Patron Portal after our first academic year, we have extended the policy limits to allow active loans to be renewed and add up to 7-days (up from 3-days prior), provided there are no conflicts with existing reservations.
For changes and modifications prior to the current academic term, view the 1.3.1 Policy Modifications and Amendments Changelog page.
The Spirit of the Equipment Loan Program
The Equipment Loan Program is established and maintained to best ensure equitable opportunity, access and utilization of equipment by Loyola students primarily for individual, academic pursuits. The loan program affords students, who are currently active in coursework, the ability to take advantage of the wide array of resources that might not otherwise be available to them individually. These resources are intended to allow discovery of emerging and established equipment and tools, develop and create exciting content, deliver multimedia projects or merely fulfill needs to maintain and seamlessly continue with tasks using available technology. Access is available to active faculty and staff individually with similar intents focused on cultivating rich, multi-media for the benefit of the Loyola Community.
1.1 Establishing Policies, Terms and Conditions
The policies, procedures, terms, and conditions described herein exist to best serve the Loyola community with the resources provided by the Equipment Loan Program. This encompasses policies and steps to best ensure equitable access and utilization that serve the intentions of the spirit of the program itself. Based on the scope and equipment availability, each checkout "checkout allocation", requires clients to reserve the equipment in advance. By submitting a reservation request, clients have access to review the Loan Program Policies and upon pickup, confirm agreement to these policies and associated responsibilities.
1.2 Related ITS and University Policies
As part of the Division of Information Technology Services, members of both DMS staff and clients are bound to not only the policies outlined here, but also to those associated identified by ITS and the University. Some key ITS Policies & Guidelines include the following:
Students using the loan program are also bound to the Community Standards (Loyola’s Student Code of Conduct), faculty and staff are similarly bound to Human Resources Policies (such as the Conflict Of Interest Policy and Guidelines For Recording Students During Online Classes). For a full list of policies, visit the University Policies website.
1.3 Policy Modifications and Amendments
Digital Media Services (DMS) updates and refreshes equipment within the loan program regularly based on numerous factors. Refresh of equipment kit types are generally defined in two-year cycles, but is subject to demand for utilization, overall durability and lifespan of the equipment, and manufacturer updates to product lines. As technology-driven needs can change rapidly in the world, we strive to meet these ongoing demands for our students. These loan program policies are evaluated on a semester-to-semester basis to best ensure, with additions, changes in demand or shifts as new equipment is integrated into the program, that overall usage remains equitable at an individual level while providing transparency regarding changes and updates. We reserve the rights to amend and modify these policies in order to maintain the goals and intentions associated to the spirit of the loan program.
Updates for AY24-25
- Fine Appeals, subsection 12.6 "Three Strikes" Appeal Considerations updated (11/13/24)
With the positive introduction of renewals, we have seen a slight trend upward with fine appeal submissions. As a result, we've shifted our language from "One-Time Exception" to a "Three Strikes" process, affording the potential of 2 appeals to be granted if meeting appeal criteria, and the third and final instance requiring Fine Remediation Training. These policies were implemented at the start of the Fall '24 Semester, subsequent updates to text here was done mid-semester. An additional update to the "Fines & Payments" page was made to correct formatting issues. - Reservation & Renewals, subsection 6.3.1 Self-Service Renewals, renewal period extended (08/16/24)
Due to ongoing success with self-service renewals via Patron Portal after our first academic year, we have extended the policy limits to allow active loans to be renewed and add up to 7-days (up from 3-days prior), provided there are no conflicts with existing reservations.
For changes and modifications prior to the current academic term, view the 1.3.1 Policy Modifications and Amendments Changelog page.