The College of Communication administration surprised its professors by giving new meaning to the command, ‘stop the presses’ earlier this month.
As of Jan. 16, COM professors are forbidden to print and distribute paper documents to their classes. This environmentally and economically motivated move ‘caught a lot of professors by surprise,’ COM Dean Tom Fiedler said.
‘It is all cognate to the current economic climate, saving money without doing any damage,’ Fiedler said. He said the school will provide faculty workshops on using CourseInfo and Blackboard.
Some students said although going paperless would save the school more money, the expense of printing would be transferred to students’ shoulders.
‘I definitely anticipate having to spend more money for ink and paper,’ COM freshman Jessica Levitt said. ‘I don’t think this is fair to the student. If COM wants to go paperless for economic reasons, it isn’t fair to burden us with the same expense. Paperless should mean paperless for everyone.’
Environmental Student Organization Vice President Hannah Leone said the initiative will have a positive effect on the environment, but only if students also forgo printing.
‘What the school needs to ensure is that students are educated on why the university is doing this,’ Leone, a College of Arts and Sciences junior, said. ‘If students print out everything professors put online, then nothing is really being done.’
Talk of cutting pulp from COM began last semester, Fiedler said. He estimated saving $100,000 over the next few years in ‘copying, printing and mailing costs.’
Students receive a print quota of 950 sides of paper per semester, however, ‘in no case will a legitimate academic need for print resources be denied,’ pending faculty approval, according to the Office of Information Technology website.
Film and Television Department Chairman Charles Merzbacher said although he does not think there will be a handout-shaped void felt in his class, it will cause a problem with BU’s policy on copyrighted documents.
COM professors need approval of the person who controls the copyright in order to distribute the protected documents. For movie or television scripts, which are often used for classes in Merzbacher’s department,
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