Since the School of Divinity makes use of computer software and the Internet to communicate with students and enhance its courses, all students are required to be "computer literate"—proficient in the use of required computer hardware and software. Students may gain such proficiency in a variety of ways, such as by taking an introductory computer course from a local college or inquiring at a local library or bookseller for appropriate reading material.

Registered students may use the Regent University computer labs on campus for course work. However, students who choose to use their home computer or laptop rather than the computer labs on campus, and all Online Education students must meet the following minimum standards regarding hardware, software and Internet access, in order to take courses from the School of Divinity.

Our experience has shown that students often have difficulty accessing and using course materials and communicating with faculty and staff if their equipment does not meet these minimum standards. Note that these standards are current minimums, which means that as technology changes and our courses continue to develop, these standards may have to be raised. Recommendations can be found on this Information Technology web page.

Hardware

Processor: Pentium 4, 2.8 GHz
Memory (RAM): 1024 MB or higher
Students should consider exceeding the minimum listed above. Increasing RAM is a relatively inexpensive way to significantly increase the speed of a computer.
Hard Drive: 80 Gigabytes (Gb)
Hard disk space is not very expensive. It is often wiser and more convenient to purchase a larger hard drive when you purchase your computer than to attempt an upgrade later if you run out of space.
Optical Drive (optional): 16× DVD
Sound Card: 32-bit, SoundBlaster-compatible
Speakers: External, internal or quality headphones/earbuds
Video Card: 128 MB of SDRAM graphics memory
Microphone: Any internal or external microphone
Monitor: 17 inch SVGA color; CRT or LCD
Modem/Internet Access: 56 Kbps minimum
(highly recommended: cable, DSL, or other high-speed connection)
Networking: 100/1000 MB Ethernet or Wireless 802.11 b/g

Software

Operating System: Windows XP Professional (or above)
or
Apple OS X (or above)
Web Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or Apple Safari.
Note: Some features of Blackboard™ are not supported in all web browsers.
E-mail: Must be able to handle attachments. A number of options are available, including Microsoft Outlook, which is used on campus. Note: Because of the many difficulties experienced by students who use AOL, CompuServe, Prodigy, and web browser-based e-mail services, such as Hotmail and Yahoo!, the School of Divinity does not support their use. Students who choose to use these options, do so at their own risk. Regent University provides all students with an email address and a web based email application.
Microsoft Office Products: Word 2007, Excel 2007, and PowerPoint 2007 or above are required. Students must be able to download, view and/or print Microsoft Office documents. Course materials are frequently delivered in these document formats.
Microsoft Office 2007 is available on campus.
Unzip or Decompression Utility: A number of options are available. WinZip is preferred. (At times, course materials are compressed into .zip files, which are smaller in size, making downloads faster for students.)
Bible Software: Although it is not required, many students find a quality Bible software package to be a significant asset in their studies. Logos Bible Software is used on campus and we highly recommend it to our students, although a variety of options are available (including BibleWorks). Bible software is especially useful when working with the Hebrew and Greek texts. For more information, please visit their websites at www.logos.com and www.bibleworks.com. Please note that often this software may be purchased through Regent at a considerable discount. E-mails are sent to students periodically when such opportunities become available.

Internet Media Software

Adobe Acrobat Reader: Enables students to view and print PDFs.

Free download: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Adobe Flash Player: For viewing interactive multi-media on some web pages.

Free download: http://www.adobe.com/downloads/
QuickTime*: Free download: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
iTunes: For use with Regent on iTunes U
Free download: http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
RealPlayer*: For viewing older videos produced by Regent Media Services
Free download: http://www.real.com/player/
Windows Media Player: For viewing videos produced by Regent Media Services
Free download: windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/windows-media-player

* not required

Internet Service Providers (ISP)

A reliable Internet connection, which includes direct access to the World Wide Web and an e-mail address is required.

Students must have at least a 56 Kbps Internet connection. Although not required, many areas have high-speed Internet access (e.g., cable, DSL, etc.), which can make interacting, downloading course materials, and doing research online much faster. If available in your area, we strongly recommend a high-speed Internet connection.

Students may obtain Internet connectivity through a national carrier or through a local Internet service provider. In choosing an Internet provider students should weigh cost, reliability, connection speed and customer service.

Additional Notes

It is each student's responsibility to check his/her Regent e-mail account daily. Otherwise, he/she may miss important e-mails sent by the school and professors. Official e-mails originating from the school will be sent to your Regent e-mail address (@regent.edu). (Replies will be sent to the account from which the student's e-mail originated.) Students may forward their Regent e-mail to another account through the Outlook Web Access interface. However, they are still responsible for all information sent to the Regent account regardless of problems they may have with an alternate account.

We feel we must caution students about WEBTV, AOL, CompuServe, Prodigy and other proprietary providers. While these companies advertise easy Internet access, we have found that their products do not always interact reliably with others. Students who use these services have often been known to have difficulty receiving/sending e-mails and attachments, as well as interacting in our online class environment, Blackboard™. Therefore, the School of Divinity does not encourage the use or provide support for the use of these products. Students who choose to use these options to interact with the School of Divinity, do so at their own risk. Special accommodations (e.g., extensions on assignments, etc.) and technical support will not be provided.

Since computer labs, which contain the required hardware and software, are provided for use by on-campus students, it is assumed that they have access to the programs required to complete assignments, etc. If an on-campus student has trouble interacting with the school or putting assignments in the proper format (e.g., MS Word, etc.) from his/her home computer, he/she is expected to use the on-campus computer labs.

Students should become familiar with the necessary hardware and software, and their functions (e.g., creating footnotes in MS Word, using the Chat function in Blackboard™) well in advance of assignment due dates to ensure successful completion and submission of assignments.

NOTE: The School of Divinity is not able to provide support for software and hardware purchased by students. Please direct such technical support questions to the applicable vendor.

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