Moody College of Communication Equipment Checkout Rules

1.1  Equipment checkout services are allowed for currently appointed/enrolled Moody College of Communication faculty, staff, and student use only. Priority access of equipment will be given first to students, followed by faculty and staff.

• 1.1.1 Undergraduate student use of equipment must be related to specific Moody College of Communication coursework.

  • 1.1.1.1  A Moody College faculty member or TA/AI’s authorization is required for classes which have not been pre-authorized.  Authorization requests can be submitted via email moody-checkout@austin.utexas.edu for review. 

  • 1.1.1.2  Independent Study requests for equipment require department approval

  • 1.1.1.3  Internship courses are not eligible for equipment use.

• 1.1.2 Graduate student use of equipment must be related to specific Moody College of Communication coursework and/or research.

• 1.1.3 Faculty use of equipment must be related to specific Moody College of Communication coursework, research and/or annual reports.

• 1.1.4 Staff use of equipment must be related to specific Moody College of Communication activities, events and/or responsibilities.

2.1 Users are required to create online reservations a minimum of 24 hours in advance and may be able to keep the equipment for up to 7 days depending on equipment availability.

2.2 Walk-in and same-day reservations are not allowed.

2.3 All reservations will be pending in the system until approved by checkout staff.

2.4 Large reservations and multiple reservation requests from the same user or group should be placed a minimum of 48 hours in advance.

2.5 Reservation extensions (1X max, up to 3 days) are allowed, but not guaranteed.

• 2.5.1 Only reservations under 10 items are allowed to be extended.

• 2.5.2 Extensions can be requested in person at the time equipment is due, with all equipment present.

• 2.5.3 Extensions will not be granted once equipment is late.

2.6 Equipment lab reservations should be made by the course instructor or TA a minimum of 48 hours in advance (excluding weekends). 

• 2.6.1 Students will not be allowed to create individual reservations for labs.

3.1 Users may be penalized on a per checkout basis for returning equipment late. A “checkout” may include one or more reservations returning at the same date & time. Penalties are as follows:

• 3.1.1 1st Offense – Warning

• 3.1.2 2nd Offense – 2-week suspension

• 3.1.3 3rd Offense – 3-week suspension, and

  • 3.1.3.1 Moody College faculty member of the corresponding class must email an acknowledgement of notification of the users' suspended status to moody-checkout@austin.utexas.edu.

• 3.1.4 4th Offense – Semester-long suspension

  • 3.1.4.1 Semester-long suspensions remain in place until the 1st class day of the next semester. 

  • 3.1.4.2 Two or more semester-long suspensions may result in permanent suspension of equipment checkout privileges.

3.2 In addition to the above penalties, late fines may be applied for late items. 

• 3.2.1 The late fine is $0.25 per hour per item.

• 3.2.2 A grace period of up to one hour may be given depending on the circumstance. 

• 3.2.3 Late fines are calculated 24/7 even when equipment checkout is closed. 

3.3 Equipment not returned within 48 hours may be assumed lost. After 48 hours, a financial bar may be placed on the user’s “What I Owe” account for the full replacement cost of all unreturned equipment. The user may also be referred to Student Judicial Services for Scholastic Dishonesty.

4.1 Cancellations can be made via the online reservation portal, email moody-college@austin.utexas.edu, or by phone (512) 471-6565.

4.2 Users may be penalized on a per checkout basis for failure to cancel reservations (See 3.1 above).

• 4.2.1 Reservations under 10 items require notice of cancellation at least 1 hour ahead of reservation time.

• 4.2.2 Reservations over 10 items require notice of cancellation at least 24 hours ahead of reservation time.

5.1 Abandoned/unattended equipment may constitute a penalty under the structure in section 3.1 above.