The challenge
At SUNY Fredonia, a small university in Western New York with around 4,000 students, technology is essential for coursework, collaboration, and research. But for students without a personal laptop, getting access to a device wasn’t always easy.
The university’s computer lab had only 30 desktops, and borrowing a laptop from IT required a trip to the outskirts of campus, filling out paperwork, and waiting for staff to process the request. This process was far from efficient.
When the university redesigned its Innovation Lab, IT saw an opportunity to improve access to technology. Mark Mackey, IT Service Delivery Manager at SUNY Fredonia, introduced a laptop checkout program to make borrowing devices easy.
But that raised a critical question: how could IT run a laptop lending program without increasing workload? Manually tracking checkouts and returns wasn’t scalable, and leaving laptops out for self-service posed security risks.
SUNY Fredonia needed a solution that was automated, trackable, and easy for students to use — all without adding more work for IT.
The solution
To create a self-service model, SUNY Fredonia installed a LocknCharge FUYL Smart Locker in the Innovation Lab, allowing students to borrow laptops without direct IT staff involvement.
Instead of requesting a device in person, students now:
- Sign in with their email and password
- Retrieve a fully charged laptop from the tower
- Return it after use
This setup doesn’t just make borrowing laptops more convenient — it also removes IT from the day-to-day lending process. Laptops remain secure, charged, and ready to use, with no manual tracking or checkouts required.
"The purpose of the Innovation Lab was to allow students to be able to come in at any time during the day, grab a laptop, and whatever they need to do with it, and then put it back. It's not for long-term use, just short-term — so students can have what they need, when they need it."
As students quickly adopted the new system, the Innovation Lab naturally expanded into more than just a laptop lending space. The ease of self-service laptop checkout led to an expansion of other self-service technology offerings. Today, students have access to drones, cameras, podcasting rooms, 3D printers, and more.
By automating device access, Mackey and his team have created a self-sustaining model that gives students on-demand technology access while allowing IT to focus on higher-priority work.
The results
For SUNY Fredonia’s IT team, one of the biggest advantages of FUYL Smart Locker has been the automation of laptop checkouts. With 4,000 students on campus, IT staff previously had to individually process each loan. Now, the entire process is automated.
The locker logs who checks out each laptop and when it’s returned, providing full visibility over who’s using what and when. If a student forgets to return a laptop, IT can easily track it down without manual record-keeping.
Beyond streamlining checkouts, the shift from desktops to laptops has increased efficiency in the Innovation Lab. The university downsized from 30 fixed desktop stations to 14, freeing up valuable space for flexible work areas while ensuring students still have reliable access to the technology they need.
Looking ahead
With the short-term loan program proving successful, SUNY Fredonia is now planning to expand the FUYL Smart Locker system to the library, allowing students to borrow laptops for up to a week.
"Right now, if students need a long-term loaner, they have to come all the way to our office. That’s what we’d like to change with the new towers. We want to put them in the library, and it will also be for students to come in and sign it out for up to a week."
This expansion will allow IT to extend laptop access without increasing workload, creating a fully self-service system across campus. As SUNY Fredonia continues to scale its device lending program, it’s clear that automated, trackable solutions are the future of campus IT efficiency.
For universities looking to automate laptop lending while reducing IT overhead, FUYL Smart Locker provides a structured, scalable solution that integrates seamlessly with existing IT workflows.
Want to see how FUYL Smart Locker can fit into your university’s IT needs?