Laptop Exploratory Position

Purpose
Determine if a full time laptop program coordinator can sustain itself financially

Hours
24-32

Duration
6 months

Reports due to staff and council at 3 and 6 months

Justification
Freegeek's laptop repair program is poorly organized and sporatically operated. Only 3 hours a week of paid staff supervision goes into the program, and that is mostly spent on physical organization and supply stocking. Yet, when quality technical effort is spent with the laptops, the strong demand for even the oldest hardware always returns to us as significant monetary rewards. As an example, one particular volunteer puts out between 4 and 8 laptops in a day of work, each of which sell for (before discount) between $50 and $100. Sales have also been primarily for full, working systems, while a market for parts on ebay is as yet untrodden. Still, this reward has not enticed us to further staff the area. This is unreasonable. we not only need to explore every avenue for reuse possible, but we owe it to our community to offer paid positions when financially viable and consistent with our mission. my personal prediction is that the laptop program will more than sustain itself, and will contribute significantly to our organization's long-term financial health.

Considerations
Laptop income may only be so high while we still have the surplus left over from the years of not being able to repair them efficiently. Once that surplus has been exhausted, we may find the incoming stream of laptop hardware is not enough to sustain the position. This possibility should be reported on by the intern.

Responsibilities

 * Organize the laptop area (Black Hole) to maintain and increase workspace and efficiency
 * Recruite (from within freegeek) able students into the laptop program
 * Laptop program development (process refinement, documentation, relevant outreach)
 * Provide laptop repair education
 * Do laptop repair
 * Explore other underattended hardware and its possible reuse
 * Participate in reuse and grants committees
 * Research and ensure responsible recycling of laptop parts

Required Skills

 * Interest in and aptitude for laptop hardware repair
 * Familiarity with the freegeek build program
 * Patient, friendly volunteer management
 * Ability to teach technical skills
 * Some familiarity with consensus process
 * Trustworthy and able to work unsupervised
 * Frugal or otherwise able to work for our wages

Hiring
full, open hiring, with the idea that the internship could easily prove itself to be worth an equivalent collective position.

budgeting: | http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/Laptops_Program_Planning_Sheet