Welcome

Laptop Information

On behalf of the entire law school information services team, I would like to welcome you to the land of the Demon Deacons, and to let you know that my staff is here to help you make the best use of the technology while you are here.

All students entering the Wake Forest University School of Law in the fall of 2009 are required to own a laptop computer. The faculty and administration at the law school instituted this requirement several years ago, realizing that today’s lawyers are information managers who are increasingly dependent upon computers for gathering, organizing and producing vast amounts of information.

The selection of a computer is entirely up to you. I do offer the following guidelines in selecting a laptop computer to use in law school;

  1. The university’s printing system does not support Windows 64 bit operating systems or any version of a Linux.
  2. You should purchase an external USB disk drive to routinely back up the documents on your computer.
  3. The university uses Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) exclusively to develop course materials.
  4. The law school’s examination software works on both the Mac OS and Windows platforms

As an incoming student, you are eligible to take advantage of special educational pricing from vendors we routinely do business with.

For IBM/Lenovo computers please visit the university’s library web site, where you will find a link to the Lenovo Family and Friends program.

For Apple computers please visit Apple's Education Store

For Dell computers please visit www.dell.com/wfulaw

Software

All students must obtain a licensed copy of Microsoft Office and an anti virus product for their computer.

We are finalizing arrangements with a local company to offer our students the ability to purchase a student license and student media (CD or DVD) for Microsoft Office 2007 for the windows based users and the Microsoft Office 2008 for the Macintosh users. These packets will be offered for a very limited time and may not be resold.

E-Mail

The university is in the process of examining several options for incoming student email and the final decision is expected soon. You will receive an email message on or around June 1, 2009 with your user id, password and instructions on how to start using your Wake Forest email account.

Printers

The university uses a printer accounting system to track student use of university printers. Each student is given a credit sufficient for 1,000 printed or copy pages per semester. Multifunction print/copy/scan devices are located on every floor of the library and in the CLRIC.

Etc.

All students must pay a university license assessment of $400. The assessment includes the fees associated with the university’s use of an examination software product, email server access and support, the use of the campus Blackboard server, The Wake Information Network (WIN), printer access and the university student help desk services. This assessment will be reflected on your fall 2009 Wake Forest University bill and covers the cost of these university services. No software is included in this fee.

Every student should seriously consider purchasing a laptop cable lock in order to secure your laptop computer while at the law school. Every carrel in the Professional Center Library has a security anchor installed allowing you to secure your laptop computer while you are away.

Information will be provided on the law school’s web site detailing how to setup your computer for use here at Wake Forest. My staff and I will also be available to help you with any configuration issues during your 1L orientation week.

We look forward to meeting you this fall. In the meantime, should you have any questions or concerns please feel free to call me at (336) 758-5709 or email me at ed.raliski@wfu.edu.

Regards,

Ed Raliski
Director, Law School Information Services