LIS introduces printing quotas

Starting in February, Library and Information Services (LIS) will enact a new policy establishing a printing quota for students. The policy will require students who exceed the quota to pay five cents per page for each side of a page.

Under the new policy, first-years, sophomores and juniors can print 500 pages per semester without cost, and seniors can print 800 pages. If the full quota is not utilized, it will roll over between semesters, but not between separate academic years.

Mike Roy, Dean of LIS, estimates that students each currently print approximately 800 pages per semester.

“We think that the average cost per student will be roughly $15 per semester,” wrote Roy in an e-mail. “We also think that the amount of printing will go down because of these quotas, so the actual cost will likely be less than that.”

Assuming students followed the quotas exactly, around 345,000 pages would be printed monthly — a reduction of 600,000 pages. But, if students continued to print at current levels, LIS could earn over $30,000 per month.

“If the average student ends up paying $30 per year,” he continued, “this will generate roughly $75,000 a year in revenue, which will cover some of the expenses associated with running our printing services.”

Printing expenses include resources such as paper and toner, labor for maintenance, and the lease on the equipment.

Students will pay for the excess pages printed with a credit card. For students who do not have credit cards, printing cards will be sold at Wilson Café and other campus locations.

The decision came after much input and discussion from students, faculty and members of the administration. Tik Root ’12, member of the Student Library Advisory Committee (SLAC), reported in an e-mail that students on the committee “had a very influential voice” in the decision. Root explained that SLAC is currently pushing for “more faculty inclusion” in the policy, as faculty members also utilize the printing resources. How the policy will apply for students printing for a campus job or a club is “still being worked on.”

LIS administrators are sympathetic to opponents of the policy. In a March blog post, Roy identified with their concerns.

“Why should students who pay upwards of $50,000 a year to attend our school have to be nickeled and dimed by being asked to pay for the print-outs that they need to make because their professors assigned them 1,000 pages of electronic reserves?” he wrote.

Roy went on to explain that a policy that charges students for printing aims to decrease printer usage. LIS estimates that the student body as a whole currently prints about a million pages per month. If students are required to pay for pages printed, perhaps this will inspire a more environmentally friendly approach to printing and eliminate “unnecessary” print jobs, such as printing multiple copies in order to perfect formatting.

Root believes that it is “reasonable to have a modest fee” for printing.

“At first the students on SLAC were fairly reluctant to go along with printing quotas,” he said. “But we realized that because the LIS budget is being cut drastically, there has to be something that gives.”

Other students disagree.

“I understand why they’re doing this, but now this is just something else I have to use my money to pay for,” said Melanie DiGreggorio ’13.

Some students report that they need to print documents in order to read effectively, and they view the new policy as punishing them for their study habits.

Root stresses that the goal of this new policy is to alleviate costs for LIS, and not to make money. LIS budget cuts have already caused the reduction of regular staff at the libraries and have also led the Student Government Association (SGA) to pick up the cost for keeping the Main Library open 24 hours a day during the week prior to exams.

LIS already instated a paying policy for guests at the College in June, charging each guest 10 cents for each page printed. Guests are required to purchase at minimum a five-dollar printing card and can only print in black and white at the three libraries on campus.

In theory, the new policy will make the printing process easier by creating shorter lines at the printing stations. LIS has also reported that it is working on establishing a system where students would be able to print from their personal laptops.