In what was touted as an effort to save both money and trees, Boston University changed its printing policy over the summer, requiring students to pay for printing services after using their allotted quota.
Undergraduates are now only allowed 100 free pages, graduate students 500 pages and law students 1,000 pages before having to pay 12 cents per additional printed page, according to a BU press release.
‘I assume it’s budget cuts,’ College of Communication sophomore Chelsea Merget said. ‘They can’t afford to keep so much paper or hire so many students to work the printing labs.’
Merget said the new quota system will not affect her as she has never filled her quota, but ‘it’s a little unfair for people who have to print out 40-page labs.’
Students said they wondered how green the new printing policy actually is, considering the amount that professors require students to print, and how much it will add to the cost of attending BU.
‘If you change the printing quota but don’t change the amount we have to print, that’s not going green,’ COM sophomore Amanda Savage said. ‘I’m still using the same amount of paper either way.’
Savage said her advertising professor sent out a syllabus and required students to print it out.
‘It’s 10 pages,’ she said. ‘That’s a tenth of my printing quota.’
Students said the new printing policy might be an environmentally friendly change if professors are willing to work with it.
‘It’s fine if most professors accept emailed work,’ College of Arts and Sciences freshman Michael Tizzano said. ‘It really depends on them and whether they follow through with the policy.’
A second aspect of the printing system overhaul involves the number and location of campus printing labs, according to a BU press release.
Labs formerly located in the residence halls were closed and replaced with a new system through which students can submit printing jobs from their personal computers to the BU campus network, according to the press release.
Students can then access the BU MyPrint site and enter their Kerberos password to release the job. Completed print jobs will be available for pick up for up to five days in the mailrooms of 518 Park Dr. in South Campus, Myles Standish Hall, Rich Hall, the Student Village, Towers and Warren Towers, the press release states.
Additionally, much of the first floor of Mugar Memorial Library was renovated over the summer to make way for a new common study area. Printing services will be available there as well.
Despite the Mugar renovations, students said they had reservations about the printing lab changes.
College of Engineering sophomore Derek Heyman said his main concern about the new policy is the added cost.
‘I think it’s unfair,’ he said. ‘I think for anything not to be provided with tuition this high is ridiculous.’
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This is a great policy. I think it should be changed where students pay for EVERY print, not just those over their allotment.
This is a great policy. I think it should be changed where students pay for EVERY print, not just those over their allotment.