From http://printing.emich.edu/ -
Beginning in the Winer 2008 semester, ICT will implement a print cost recovery system. All registered students will receive an allotment of 400 black and white prints. Pages printed beyond the initial allotment will be charged to the student’s account at $0.05 per page. To print beyond the initial allotment, students must consent to allowing ICT to post charges to their student account.
Quick Facts
- Printers connected to the ICT printing system, including those in the ICT Labs, the Halle Library and the Marshall 210 Lab, printed over 8.7 million pages between July 1, 2006 and June 30, 2007. That is 43.5 tons of paper! (That is a paper trail from Ypsilanti, MI to Key West, Fla.)
- 10% of the people who print in these labs account for 48% of the pages printed
- On average, over 80% of the students printing in labs print less than 400 pages in a given semester.
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If you are interested in finding out how much you actually print each term you can go to http://labstat.emich.edu/printed/ type in your Emich ID and password, a web page will show up that displays everything you print out in the ICT Labs.
If you go to http://labstat.emich.edu/gauge/ you will be able to see in real time how full each lab is at a given time.
Thoughts?
I like the gauge.
It’s about time. EMU wastes so much paper. I see students print off huge documents, throwing most of it away, all because they can’t be bothered to change the printer setting to the page then need.
Other schools have these policies, why not? The last school I attended gave everyone a $5 credit and charged $0.10 per page. After that, you had to put credits on your account before you could print. 400 pages per person should be plenty.
I wonder what those 10% are doing…any stats on that…by major?
boo…no more printing flyers for my organization that has no funding to print them otherwise…
I think that’s crap. I had so many pages of notes that had to be printed for my ACC 296 and my DS 265 class they both filled a 2″ binder..How many pages fill one 2″ binder? That’s one 2″ binder for each class. I haven’t had another ACC class yet but I can imagine they are somewhat the same. I honestly shouldn’t have to pay for notes for my classes. I pay enough for books that don’t get bought back.
I agree with Jessyca; the amount of notes, readings, and other papers needed for class easily exceeds 400 pages per term.
If they’re so hard-up for money, why’d they go and replace a bunch of printers during the summer term? And why don’t they turn on the duplexing option they paid extra to have installed to cut paper usage?
I think this is a fair policy. The gauges are pretty cool.. kudos for that.
400 pages is a lot and .05/extra is cheaper than even what UMich charges.
“Public access to library computers is a courtesy. It’s not a right! It costs money to maintain those computers and printers! The library is not obligated to provide word processing services or internet to ANYONE!!”
signed,
homeless mother of 3
I realize that today very few students come to college without a computer but several come without printers. Students already pay for classes and technology fees so I think between those two it should cover paper for school related reasons. If you are printing for personal reasons that is different, but as long as professors require type written papers and notes to be turned in then students should not have to pay to print that work. I’m not sure how to regulate the difference between personal and school use.
mom2one,
You’re still getting 400 pages for free. That’s more than enough for the majority of people..
Gosh, what did we do before there were computers and printers? We took our own notes and no university provided pen and paper.
You know, you can get a printer at a place like BestBuy for about $30 nowadays….
I know 400 pages are free, but as some of the above posters have said some classes require type-written notes to be turned in weekly as part of the class and they have found that it can exceed 400 pages. In those cases I really don’t think that since it is part of a class that students have to pay more for a class they have already had to buy books for, paid for, paid a registration fee for, and in many cases paid a technology fee for. Paper fees just seem excessive. I suppose teachers that require sooo much printing put on their syllabus that a printer and paper is a “required” supply. OR maybe they should have some kind of a printing station where students bring their own paper, put in their flash drive, find the file, and print using their own paper.
Again, it’s just my opinion. I think EMU charges plenty of fees for each class already, these students do not need more money taken from them. they need some way of separating the academic printing from the personal printing and just charge for the personal printing.
What students need to realize is that this is a university. You are responsible for some things – There really aren’t that many schools that give you free printing. I think 400 pages is really nice of EMU. So many students today want everything handed to them on a platter, and EMU is not that place to expect that. It’s a public university – not a public school where the education is required. There are students that struggle to meet expenses, and thats the way it’s been for a long time. I can’t believe how many kids come in surprised they have to buy their own books or supply their own notebooks, supplies, etc. This is one of those things where people should probably make sure they are ready to make the commitment to education before they sign up. Seriously, I can’t believe this is even an issue.