EMC Check Out System Equips Students with the Tools to Succeed

Deep in the heart of the Bragg building you can find the amazing EMC checkout system. The system, set up by Mike Forbes, Assistant Director of EMC Engineering and a crew of student workers, helps students gain access to the tools they need for video and film production assignments. Students log into an online reservation system using their MTSU ID info to look over the gear set aside for their specific classes, and make requests of what they need and when they need it. Each set of gear is managed by a faculty member who reviews and approves reservation requests. If a student needs a piece of equipment they are not previously approved to check out, they may put in a request to the faculty member in charge of it.

EMC checkout workers are upper division students who must be quite knowledgeable of all the equipment in all of the sets of gear. It is hard to keep up with every little piece of equipment in each set, so to keep it all organized each item that is accompanied by an RFID tag. Radio-frequency identification tags allow for speedy inventory of items within a kit.

The checkout system is constantly growing with new hardware for students to work with. Having used some of this equipment myself, I can say that this is a great opportunity to get your hands on professional grade equipment and get used to how things work. Giving students hands-on access to this equipment has had a huge effect on student productions. And many professors and faculty will say they have seen visible improvement in the quality of student work since this system went into operation.