OU is introducing a new print management system in its open computer labs starting fall 2004. Called PrintWise, the system works with computer release stations and OU SpiritCards to provide fast, secure and cost-effective printing. PrintWise is OU’s effort to make printing more efficient, conserve paper by reducing waste and better manage toner use.

PrintWise will be piloted in the open computer labs in Elliott Hall, Kresge Library (first floor open computer lab and second floor reference computers) and the Oakland Center.

During the pilot year of PrintWise – fall 2004 through summer 2005, OU students will be allocated 25 free prints in a designated account on their SpiritCard each semester they are registered. When the allocation of free prints is depleted, students will use money from their SpiritCash account to pay 10 cents per page to print in the open computer labs.

Unused free prints will carryover to the next registered term through the end of the summer 2005 semester. The print allocation will reset in fall 2005 based on committee review of the pilot.

SpiritCard holders can deposit money in their SpiritCash account using the value transfer stations (VTS) near the open computer labs. The VTS also will dispense guest cards for use in PrintWise computer labs (and to make photocopies in some locations on campus). The allocation of free prints only is available for use in the computer labs.

When using the open computer labs for classes, faculty members can make arrangements with the lab manager to allow for free printing during that time.

“Universities across Michigan – and the nation – have discovered the volume of wasted, or unclaimed, printouts in computer labs has risen dramatically,” said Steve Glowacki, lead systems engineering, University Technology Services, and member of the OU committee charged with implementing the PrintWise system. “This increase is bad for the environment because it wastes a valuable resource and is hard on budgets because the costs to pay for the paper, toner and printer maintenance are shared by the university and its students.”

University of Delaware, which introduced a similar program to its 16,000 students last academic year, discovered that nearly 25 percent of documents printed were wasted printouts. In one computer lab alone, University of Delaware recycled 120 pounds, or 12,000 sheets, of paper each week, an equivalent of 600,000 sheets of paper a year.