Technology Solution - Pay for Print
By Dorene Kessler with additional reporting by Lori Bush

203,678

That is the average number of printouts per month in the High Tech Centers during the Fall 2008 semester – that equals 407 reams, or more than 40 boxes of paper. Laid end to end, that’s 35 miles of paper!

While most printouts are used for GCC class work, a surprising amount is used for personal activities, class work for other schools, or simply left behind in the many recycle bins available throughout the High Tech Centers.

In an effort to reduce costs and waste, the HTC’s will be implementing a Pay for Print solution in the open labs. Beginning in the Fall 2009 semester, students will be able to use their student ID cards to release print jobs that they have placed into a holding queue to print. By implementing this type of system, we are helping students make better-informed decisions about what they print in the labs, as well as limiting the number of runaway print jobs.

College Technology Services (CTS) and the Fiscal office will be working through the details in the next few months. We are anxious to join other MCCCD campuses and implement a system that will not only help save money, but will help optimize our printing environment through detailed print monitoring and tracking.

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