Campus enforces payment policy

Georgia College & State University students are confused and angry by a new pay to print policy implemented this semester by (OIIT) Office of Information & Instructional Technology.

Some students say they are already inundated with fees.

“I think that we pay enough already,” said Rusty Leasure, a senior information systems major. “I think that the price isn’t too expensive though, it’s the same as we are paying in the library. Hopefully this is just a temporary thing.”

Computer lab assistants have had to tackle some of the issues themselves because students think that they have answers.

“There have been a few people that have complained about the price, and I as a lab assistant don’t have anything to do with the price,” said Soumya Nukala, a lab assistant in Atkinson. “Even the lab assistants have to have a card to print things out.”

OIIT has been keeping a close watch on the situation and encourages students to ask questions if they have them.

“We have had a few concerns, but overall I think that the students have
been very understanding, and I appreciate that,” said Jim Wolfgang chief information officer for the office of information & technology. “Many departments have supported the concept. Several have arranged for department cards they use for the students to print during actual class time.”

Paying to print is nothing new in the university system, five schools in Georgia already have this system in place and most of them have many more students to accommodate.

“The prices to print in other Georgia universities ranges from 2.5 cents to 10 cents,” said Wolfgang.

“Nationwide, the cost is usually nine or 10 cents. The University of Georgia has the advantage of a tech fee of $75 per semester compared to our $38 and they have 27,000 students paying it.”

Some students understand why the new print policy is in place but feel that always having their card with them is going to take some getting used to.

“I think that overall the new system is good,” said Shelley Cowart, a sophomore accounting major. “I think that if you don’t have the cash with you it should sometimes in certain cases be more lenient, I do think that the price per page is reasonable.”

OIIT has noticed a great decrease in the amount of paper that is being used since the policy went into effect.

“People are printing what they need…not whatever they want,” said Wolfgang. “There appears to be much more evaluation and planning.”

Since the 10 cents per page is at the top of the spectrum in Georgia, some students feel that the price is too high.

“I feel that if we pay a tech fee we shouldn’t have to pay to print,” said Hollis Sams, a senior marketing major. “I think that the pay to print fee is very overpriced.”

Wolfgang and OIIT are keeping all of the money from the labs in a separate account, and they are charging all printing expenses (paper, toner, maintenance visits) against that account.

“After a semester we will see if we can lower the cost per sheet,” said Wolfgang. “Any excess revenues beyond costs for the fiscal year will be invested in the labs.”

Some students are split on how they feel about the new policy. Some like the concept but just don’t like the fact that you aren’t provided with a card to start with.

“In one way it’s right because of all the things that we print.” said Luiza Biktyakova, a junior management major. “They could provide us with a card at first that has just a limited amount of print jobs on it, and then pay if we need more.”

OIIT has many more plans for the cards that are being distributed.

“Since the card is working well, we will be meeting to look at a couple of other things,” said Wolfgang.

“First we will determine if we can just have the magnetic stripe on the ID card starting with new students in the fall. That way there would be no need to get the second card. Secondly, we will be looking at using the card in some of the vending machines on campus as a pilot test. We may then look at portable units that will allow students to use their card at plays or concerts where there is a fee.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 24 2003. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry