Addressing the Higher Education Digital Divide: Establishing a Student Technology Fund

Upon the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) decided, like many other higher education institutions, to set up an emergency student technology support fund. The University Technology Solutions (UTS) student tech support fund has since awarded over 50 laptops to students in need. This presentation will be demonstrating how the UTS department navigated over 400 applications and counting, the vendor process and shipping process, and most important, student reactions. This presentation will also cover opportunities for improving a technology support fund, how to identify students in need, how the university made this opportunity visible to all UTSA students, a collaboration between financial aid and the development office, and forms needed to make laptop distribution possible. This session will also highlight the importance of working collaboratively with corporations, faculty, and staff donors to meet program goals. Initially, the UTS Student Technology Fund was implemented to provide students emergency access to technology due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but has realized its growing need among the student population. As the university starts to plan its transition back to campus, it has remained firm on maintaining this successful program, acknowledging the digital divide that exists in higher education institutions.