Middle Tennessee State University has returned to unlimited printing for students this year, according to the Information Technology Division (ITD).
The cost of printing services offered by MTSU changed multiple times over the course of the 2014-2015 school year, leaving many students confused about the new policies.
Just before school started for the 2015 fall semester, an e-mail was sent from the ITD to all enrolled students which noted the following:
“We just wanted to update you on the Responsible Printing initiative. As we move into a new academic year, we continue to share the commitment to finding new ways to reduce unnecessary printing and to encourage responsible use of our resources. However, we have not yet found a printing solution that works effectively with a minimum disruption for students. While we continue to search for a solution, student printing will continue to be paid via your prepaid Technology Access Fee and other university resources. As these are limited resources, we ask you to be frugal and conscientious when making printing decisions and not print unnecessarily or excessively.”
Last year, MTSU introduced a new a printing system after entering into a contract with RJ Young, and allocated students 320 black-and-white copies per student per semester. After exceeding this limit, students had to refill their MTSU id’s, with black-and-white pages costing .02499 cents a piece and colored pages .05699 cents a piece. However, this policy was suspended after a campus-wide printer shutdown during the spring 2015 midterm week. The University will now be on the lookout for different types of printer that will allow them to keep the printing costs down, while allowing students to print necessary resources for their education.
Now students must simply login with their RaiderNet username and password at any of the university computer labs in order to print.
For more information about student printing, please see your nearest lab director or contact the IT Help Desk at 615-898-5345.
For more campus news, follow us at www.mtsusidelines.com, on Facebook at MTSU Sidelines and on Twitter at @MTSUSidelines.
To contact news editor Sarah Grace Taylor, email newseditor@mtsusidelines.com.
Over the past few years, MTSU has had issues with students taking advantage of the campus’s printing system. Last year, MTSU came up with a new policy where students had limited fees for printing; if students go over these limits, they would be charged for the extra paper that was used at the end of their semester. This policy, however did not last very long due to the incident that happened during midterms last term.
In my opinion, I think the printing system for MTSU students should remain how it is, free of charge. With all of the content that professors give to students to print, and with how high the student tuition is, I just don’t think students should have an additional fee waiting on them when they finish the semester.
I do however agree with MTSU about students overusing paper carelessly at times. Hopefully, we can find a way to better monitor the use of paper that students use. No one can really put a number on pages a student should need for a semester, because no one can really know how many printable assignments are placed on students3. The printing policy should remain as is, until another solid way of estimating each student’s right use of paper is correctly calculated.