Grove City College increases student engagement and advances digital unity with Microsoft Surface devices

Overcoming the digital divide with digital unity

Grove City is a forward-thinking institution that deeply values providing students with the technology, tools, and skills needed to succeed both during and after college. The college, which has around 2,500 students and 500 staff, values equity and affordability for all its students. Since 1994, the college has had a “digital unity” policy through which it provides every student with the same device, which is included in tuition and requires no additional technology fees. Faculty members receive the same device as students.

“Digital unity means we have a lot of students that come from a lot of different backgrounds,” says Vince DiStasi, Chief Information Officer and Professor at Grove City. “We didn’t want a digital divide where one student has a Chromebook and another has a Surface Laptop.”

As the program evolved, Grove City needed to provide a laptop powerful enough to meet the needs of students and faculty across all disciplines, including sophisticated 3D computer-aided design applications and graphic design software. With a limited maintenance budget, reliability was a critical factor. Furthermore, the faculty wanted a platform that would support digital note-taking using Microsoft OneNote. However, the college’s fleet of aging laptops was not keeping up with expectations.

“Since students had latched on to taking their notes within OneNote, the writing experience had to be impeccable. We had a few years where that experience wasn’t as good as it should have been,” says DiStasi. “So when we looked at our technology stack and some of our higher-end users like engineering students and creatives, we needed a machine that had power in addition to really good writing.”

Grove City had a long-standing relationship with Microsoft as an early adopter of the Microsoft Campus Agreement licensing program and was already using offerings like Microsoft 365 productivity apps and the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. After the college considered several hardware vendors, Microsoft stood out for its innovative, powerful devices and commitment to education. The integrated solutions for instruction and learning offered by Microsoft also complemented Grove City’s holistic approach to supporting its students and faculty with technology.

Empowering students with an innovative learning platform

Grove City had several key hardware requirements to maximize value for its students and faculty. “The really important things to us as an institution were the ability to stand up to student use, to deliver the performance we needed, and probably most importantly, to have support that we can rely on. Microsoft is laser focused on education,” says DiStasi. Grove City also wanted to facilitate a remote and flexible work environment for faculty that would allow them to work from anywhere.

The advanced capabilities of Microsoft Surface devices—particularly for digital inking, graphics performance, and ease of use in the classroom—proved to be the perfect fit. Students can use the Surface Laptop Studio as a laptop to type, then seamlessly switch to tablet mode and use the pen for notes, equations, sketches, and more. The devices also equip Grove City faculty with technology solutions adaptable to instruction in a higher education setting.

Grove City wanted more than performance and flexibility—the institution needed a vendor that would provide ongoing support. “We’re a small school; we just don’t have the critical mass to do things on our own. Having the right collaborator that takes care of our cloud-based services, hardware, and software is key,” says Michael Buckman, Vice President for Business and Finance at Grove City.

Improving student engagement with Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio

Student engagement with technology has increased since switching to the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio. On previous devices, the limited battery life of the pen was a barrier, but now more students are using the Surface Slim Pen to ink in OneNote. “I’ve noticed the freshmen are using the pen more than we’ve had in the past, and I think that’s through a smart design where the pen is attached to the machine and always charging. It sounds like a little thing, but it’s highly important,” says DiStasi.

In addition to the Surface Laptop Studio devices, Grove City rolled out 15 Surface Hubs around campus. The 50-inch, interactive screens are ideal for group projects. Students can easily connect to the Surface Hub and use Microsoft Teams to collaborate with each other and, when working on projects with industry partners, external consultants. These tools not only enrich the learning experience but also build valuable workplace skills. “It’s imperative that we educate our students both in the classroom and in their capacity to use the tools that they’ll need to use every single day in the workforce,” says DiStasi.

The new devices and Surface Hubs are supporting Grove City’s commitment to an inclusive learning environment for students with disabilities. The institution can connect a Surface Hub to its Braille machine or a tactile printer to support students with visual impairments. For neurodivergent students with diverse learning needs, technology supports can have a meaningful impact on their experience. “Technology can level the playing field and ensure that all students have accessible learning opportunities,” says John Inman, Vice President, Institutional Support and Initiatives at Grove City.

Another important requirement for Grove City was technology cost control. The college help desk team was initially skeptical of switching vendors after 20 years, but after just two months, the team agreed it was the right call. “Almost every week, I hear a comment that it was the best decision we’ve made,” says DiStasi. Now, the IT team has more time to focus on strategy and development.