At the end of the Fall 2016 semester, the Print Center at Mugar Memorial Library will undergo a series of changes, and the current print center that employs 36 students will be replaced by a new system that does not require any employees to run, according to the university.
Information Services and Technology Help Center Executive Director Stacy Gianoulis wrote in an email to The Daily Free Press that the new system will have self-release printers, meaning students will be able to walk up to the printers, swipe their BU ID and release the print right there. Under the current system, students have to release print jobs from their computers and pick up copies at the Print Center, which is sorted and run by students.
“The self-release stations allow us to eliminate the cover sheet that, today, is generated for each print job because print jobs no longer will need to be sorted,” Gianoulis wrote. “This has been a common request by BU’s student population and we’re happy that we now can accommodate this request.”
Over the break, BU will add some additional printing locations around campus and alter some existing centers, Gianoulis wrote. The details of these changes have yet to be disclosed.
The new system will be more sustainable and user-friendly, according to Gianoulis.
“The self-release stations will further reduce wasted print because jobs sent accidentally or to the wrong printer location will never be released, while in our old model these jobs would be printed, sorted and eventually recycled.” Gianoulis wrote. “Students will now also be able to print in color.”
For students who will lose their jobs due to these changes, the university has offered to help them find a new job, according to Gianoulis.
“Students have been referred to the Student Employment Office for assistance with finding a new position,” Gianoulis wrote. “The IT Help Center will give priority hiring for any displaced students who are interested and qualified for any of our open student positions.”
Several students who currently work in the Print Center said although it is unfortunate for them, they believe new system will work out better.
Ellen Gilley, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said the new system will be beneficial because it will not waste as much paper.
“I am disappointed that I am losing my job, but I think that it is going to save a lot of paper because they are getting rid of the cover sheets, so that’s a good thing,” Gilley said.
Gilley said that although this decision came from the administration, her supervisor is helping her and her co-workers every step of the way in finding a new job.
“Obviously it’s not ideal for students who have a job there, but my supervisor is doing everything she can to help us and make the transition easier,” Gilley said. “She’s doing her best to help the students in the transition and throughout the transition.”
Nadhirah Rashid, a junior in the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and CAS, wrote in an email that the benefits of the new center outweigh the loss of jobs.
“Even though the opportunity cost of technology advances is that many of us at the Print Center are losing our part-time jobs, students at BU will get to print without the hassle of picking their jobs up at the Print Center or mail rooms,” Rashid wrote. “I believe that a new print environment would be more efficient for students although it might take time to get used to it.”
Haejin Hwang, a second-year graduate student in the School of Medicine, said she believes the way students will transition to the new system will be rocky.
“I feel like [the new situation] is going to be chaos for the first few months,” Hwang said.
Several students who do not work in the print center said they like how the new system will be set up.
Blake Stanford, a junior in the Questrom School of Business, said that students getting papers themselves is more difficult, but it will benefit the greater good.
“[The new system] sounds like I’m going to have to do a little more work, but it’s probably more efficient,” Stanford said.
Sarah Steele, a CAS senior, said the new system is better because it will eliminate the long lines often seen at the Print Center.
“I think that’s more convenient so you do not have to wait in a line,” Steele said. “You can just go get your stuff.”
Gianoulis wrote that the university will soon send out an email to further describe the new system. Student can also access the information on the MyPrint website later this week.
Breanne is a former editor-in-chief and city news editor. She is a senior in the College of Communication and an oxford comma enthusiast. Follow her on Twitter @breannekovatch.
Outsourced jobs. Good work BU.
Cover sheets are essential for two reasons: to identifying the owner of the output, and to demarcate where one job ends and the next begins. Without job separator sheets you invite chaos, with no way to identify the owner once the job comes out, and people grabbing incomplete jobs or the start of the next person’s job as sheets comes out of the printer. It’s nice to think of saving a bit of paper, but eliminating job separator sheets has never worked, which is why BU continued having them. The REAL way to save paper is for BU to finally learn how to use information electronically. Printing is as archaic as it is needless.