The Department of Communication affiliated students, staff, and faculty have the unique resource of checking out gear from our Equipment Checkout Program such as cameras, audio recorders, lighting, and more.
Location
Our Equipment Checkout location is on the third floor of the Communication (CMU) building just north of the Husky Union Building “HUB”. (For an example map, see figure 1.1) Checkout is located in the Tech Hallway in room 318-E
Please note: Equipment Checkout is closed during UW holidays so you will have to plan around such days.
We would like to continue providing this free service to students, staff, and faculty. To help us do so, please take responsibility for the individual items and kits you reserve for your timeslot. This includes taking care of items in your possession to ensure their safe return at the end of your reservation. This also means that you pick up and return the gear at the allotted time you schedule to pick up and return.
Our Equipment
Students, faculty, and staff have access to the following:
- Smartphone Accessories
- Camcorders
- Tripods (big and small)
- Monopods
- Video and Photo Lighting
- Audio cables and adapters
- Lavalier mics, shotgun mics, and other assorted mics
- Digital recorders
- Headphones
- DSLR Cameras and lenses
- GoPros
- More…
Have a suggestion for new gear? Tell us about it here:
https://forms.gle/1oeeaNiLh7af7qhv9
Equipment Checkout Process
Reserve Equipment
- Reserve equipment using the Student AV Equipment Checkout system. By clicking the ‘I Agree to These Terms’ button, you are entering into a legally binding contract and are responsible for returning the equipment on time and in good working order.
- Please make your reservations at least 4 hours in advance to allow our student workers to process your equipment in a timely manner.
Pick-up Equipment
- On the day you are scheduled to pick up your equipment, go to the Equipment Checkout Office (CMU 318-E) where you will sign it out.
- If you notice any problems with the equipment, please tell the IT staff.
- Provide your Husky ID or other photo identification during checkout.
- DISCLAIMER: Because we cannot guarantee that an item will be returned to us on time and in perfect working order, we cannot guarantee that the items you’ve reserved will be available on the day they’re scheduled for pick up.
Return Equipment
- On the day you are scheduled to return your equipment, return it to the CMU’s Equipment Checkout Office.
- Our Student workers will check that the equipment and all accessories are present and that everything is in working order and in good condition.
FAQ Below
A. The hours of operation vary depending on the quarter and the student workers we have on site. Please refer to the current hours posted on our Reservation Website. Our hours are also posted on the whiteboard outside the equipment checkout room. (318-E)
The EQ Checkout office is closed during all major UW holidays.
Hours are reduced during breaks between quarters.
A. Your reservation’s due date can be found by logging into the reservation website HERE. You will be on the tab that says COMEQ Home. You will need to scroll down to the blue box that says Your Current Reservations and refer to the information provided in this box. You will notice your reservation number, pick-up time, and drop-off time as well as a copy of the receipt you signed when you picked up.
See Example below
Figure 1.1
A. No. Equipment Checkout is offered as an additional service provided by the Department of Communication.
A. Because of the legally binding contract you signed, we reserve the right to…
1. Suspend your Equipment Checkout account (Timeframe: From two weeks to an entire quarter)
2. Terminate your Equipment Checkout account (Permanently)
3. Charge you a fine as a result of the breach of contract
NOTE: Continued unapproved usage past your return date or disregarding our attempts to contact you may lead to us reporting our equipment as stolen. This will land you into legal trouble with UWPD and potentially bar you from graduation for serious infractions. (Please be responsible!)
A. Please make your reservations at least 4 hours in advance to allow our student workers to process your equipment in a timely manner
A. We DON’T offer reservation extensions as this impedes other students’ ability to reserve the same kind of gear during busier times of the quarter. This rule applies throughout the quarter and not just during busy times.
See “back-to-back reservations” question below for alternative option we do provide regarding longer reservation lengths.
A. You MAY make a reservation back-to-back with a current one if you make the reservation on the date your current reservation is due. You do still need to stop by the checkout room with the gear.
Please be aware that we do reserve the right to cancel all reservations that are outside of a reasonable reservation. It is discouraged to continually reserve back-to-back reservations more than one time for the same items.
A. To see how long you can reserve equipment for, please refer to the details on our Reservation Website.
A. We do not supply tapes, minidiscs, mini-DVDs, or any other consumable media.
A. We do not supply non-rechargeable batteries. Students checking out items that require disposable batteries such as AAs, AAAs, 9V cells, etc, are responsible for supplying their own batteries. We make no guarantee of charge in any disposable batteries supplied.
Items that take disposable batteries include Flipcams, Voice Recorders, Canon Powershot cameras, and microphones.
For cameras and other equipment that we do supply batteries for, such as PD170s, Sony 1000Us, Canon Ti Series Cameras, Canon Mark Series Cameras, Canon HF10, HV20, HV30, Kodak Zi8s, etc, we attempt to provide charged batteries as best we can, but we do not guarantee charge.
NOTE: Please allow sufficient time for yourself to charge or acquire batteries as needed.
A. Most of our gear is provided with SD cards or internal memory with at least 1 way to retrieve data off of the device and onto your personal machine. There is no guarantee that your data will be removed by IT staff or student workers before the next student checks out the same equipment. It is your responsibility to clear the memory card of all information you don’t want to be passed along to the next individual.
A. If you click on the individual item name within the “Create Reservation” categories, a pop-up will appear that will show you what the equipment looks like inside the kit you’ve clicked on.
A. Please reserve what you believe is needed for your project or event. If there is an issue with your reservation, one of our checkout students will be in contact with you to provide reservation management support.
We do limit our advanced camera equipment to 1 camera kit per student.
Advanced Camera Equipment List:
- Canon Mark II
- Canon Mark III
- Canon Mark IV
- Canon EOS R
- Panasonic GH5
- Comm Lead Audio/Video Kit (Only available for those who have taken Jacob Christensen’s Video Storytelling class)
Disclaimer: Advanced Camera Equipment is only available for those who have undergone training and approval by IT/Checkout staff.
Have additional questions about our Equipment Checkout Program? Send us an email at comeq@uw.edu