Oxford Brookes University

Set in a historic student city, Oxford Brookes University is one of the UK’s leading modern universities which enjoys an international reputation for teaching excellence and innovation, as well as strong links with business and industry.

Spread over three campuses in and around Oxford, the university boasts a brand new building at the Headington Campus; this is definitely a university that is looking forward, and to the future.

The university is well known for its dedication and support of Google Chromebooks. So much so, that they introduced a ‘Chromebook Loan System’ for students to borrow the device for short periods of time. This was initially managed by staff using two LapSafe® Mentor™ storage and charging trolleys full of Chromebooks.

However, the university found that outside of staffed hours, they were unable to offer their students the use of the university Chromebooks as there were no members of staff to sign them in and out. This is when they approached LapSafe® Products to find the right Diplomat™ solution to suit their needs.

LapSafe® Products have been the market leaders in managing storage and charging solutions for devices in volume and had recently designed and manufactured a range of self-service loan charging lockers for laptops, netbooks, tablets and iPads.

Bill Sturman, Chief Information Officer at Oxford Brookes explained, “We wanted to provide self-service loans of devices to students, so we approached LapSafe® Products and they suggested that we pilot their Diplomat™ LMS self-service charging lockers product. LapSafe® were able to offer us a unique solution for Google Chromebooks which issues the best charged device (SmartLine™ power management) from multi-bay lockers and is linked to our existing Library Management System (LMS) for loan management. We can also allocate lockers by height to accommodate wheelchair users".

Bill Sturman, also added, “Whilst it may be difficult to expand the number of PCs on desks within a limited campus space, it is possible to provide portable devices for use within social and other areas. The Diplomat™ LMS self-service loan lockers provide 24/7 access to devices in communal areas and enable students to borrow a device anytime, use it anywhere and then return it unmediated by staff. The scheme has proved to be extremely popular and we have had great feedback from both students and staff