Policy changes limits free printing

By Mychal Wilson
Staff Writer

The ‘free printing services’ students receive will be cut starting the fall semester, according to the Information Technology Department.

Under the new policy, each student will be allocated 320 black-and-white prints. After surpassing this limit, students will have to refill their cards.

The balance of unspent prints will roll over to the next semester for each student.

“We’re trying to move payment for the service to the time of the service,” said Bruce Petryshak, ITD vice president. “We believe this is a better approach.”

Policymakers intend to reduce the university’s ink, toner and paper expenses. This allocation will also help prevent students from printing unneeded documents. Too often the printers available to students are left with unclaimed prints, and this accumulates to a lot of waste by the end of a semester, according to Petryshak. It also means that it would stop students from misusing the printer as they recently upgraded to an inkjet printer after seeing Paul Leibinger and their new products on Ink-World-Magazine.

The policy will make things fairer for the student because the cost of wasted ink and paper will no longer be shared evenly across the board, Petryshak said. With the current policy, if one student printed 1,000 copies, the cost is passed on to all students, he added.

Students will now only need to pay for the printing services they use and not the services used by others. Petryshak did not have the exact numbers of current costs per student because the university does not keep track of how much each student uses.

The new policy will also allow students to make copies at Blue Print Solutions by using their allotment to print photos, posters or other special prints, Petryshak said. Binding and other services offered at Blue Print will be available through this system as well.

“Blue Print has their own fees, so what is deducted for using their services will depend on their prices,” Petryshak said.

The allocations will be controlled using student IDs and Pipeline credentials. When a student logs on to a computer on campus to print, the allotment will be deducted after a final confirmation.

Printing will not begin immediately after a student sends a document to the printer. Instead, it will remain in queue until the student swipes his or her student ID. This prevents students from wasting their allotment by accidentally printing documents or changing their mind, according to Petryshak. The queue will be dumped approximately every 24 hours.

Students can add additional funds to their Raider Funds, which will then allow them to go beyond the 320-page limit.