Background and Purpose

Clemson University has provided unrestricted printing in public labs for many years. The past few years have seen a steady increase in printing volume and cost. During the 2008-09 Academic year, print volumes hit the 12 million page mark in CCIT labs alone. 2009-10 projections show upwards of 13 million.

In addition to rising costs and budget reductions, students frequently complained of long waits while print jobs processed, jammed, or in many occasions, were completely abandoned and wasted.

Benchmarking was also conducted and easily revealed that Clemson was not alone in the need to address printing costs and waste. Several Universities across the nation have successfully implemented print quotas to reduce waste and cut costs. Clemson is the last in the ACC, and one of the last of the 12 top peer institutions to adopt such a policy.

In 2009, the IT Task Force identified printing as a primary area for cost savings.

Executive Summary

In November 2009, the Budget Task Force and Clemson Computing and Information Technology (CCIT), with discussions with Student Government and the approval of President Barker and Administrative Council, approved instituting a new Print Quota system for all Student computer labs, as well as the Plotting service found in the CCIT Support Center in the Union.

This implementation will reduce overall printing on campus as well as meet both sustainability and economic goals.

Policy

Combined Quota:

• After initial implementation of the Print Quota system, the IT Task Force chose to alter the charging model and quota structure after obtaining feedback from the student body. These changes allow for users to freely distribute their quota between printing and plotting systems.
• Undergraduate Students will receive a semester quota of $25.50 which is equivalent to 510 printed pages or 25.5 square feet of plotting.
• Graduate Students will receive a semester quota of $33.00 which is equivalent to 660 printed pages or 33 square feet of plotting.
• This applies to actual sheets of paper, not printouts, as a 2-sided printout counts as one page against the quota.

Lab Printing:

• Both Undergraduates and Graduates will pay 5 cents per page, over and above the quota.
• The physical release of prints will be done by the student at the printer. If they release the job to print, their quota will be charged.
• CCIT Student Labs will be equipped with printers that can handle duplex.
• At this time, we will not roll-over print quotas from semester to semester.

Plotting:

• All students, both Undergraduate and Graduates, may apply their quota freely to plotting charges. Once their quota has been exhausted, other means of payment will be necessary to pay for plotting.
• All Faculty and Staff may either charge plotting to a 23 digit departmental account number or may pay using personal funds.
• Students may check their current quota at any time as well as increase their funds on Tiger 1.
• At the point of printing plots, Students will have a pop up message that indicates their print quota balance as well as an option to use their Tiger 1 Card funds to pay for prints if they have a 0 balance left on their quota. The Tiger 1 balance will also be displayed on this screen.
• The physical release of plots will be done by the Plot Administrator in the CCIT Support Center and will be held for pick up by the student.
• At this time, we will not roll-over plot quotas from semester to semester.

Timeline and Implementation:

1. Phase 1 will consist of implementing the Print Quotas in the CCIT Student Labs and for the CCIT Plotting Service located in the CCIT Support Center. This phase will also include the replacement of printer hardware to allow for duplex. This implementation is slated to be complete by Fall 2010.
2. Phase 2 will include the implementation of print quotas in the Academic Student Labs. We are targeting a Spring 2011 implementation date.
3. Phase 3 will include the implementation of informed messaging capabilities, which will enable Faculty and Staff to make the best decisions on the most cost effective means for printing. We are targeting a Summer 2011 implementation date.

Departmental Printing:

1. Faculty and Administrators with areas that have high-volume printing, but are not considered Student Labs, can request to have the print quota system implemented based on cost/benefit.
2. Departments will be empowered to lead these changes however they are encouraged to leverage campus experts i.e. CCIT.
3. Requests will be considered by submitting a request to ithelp@clemson.edu. Any implementation for departments will be done only after the primary phases noted above have been completed.

Exceptions

Exceptions will be limited, however, will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by a group led by CCIT’s Director of Personal Computing and a comprehensive cross-section of the campus community. Requests for exceptions should be submitted to: ithelp@clemson.edu

Student Group Printing

There will be no exceptions for student groups. The data clearly indicates that the quota thresholds should more than cover special group requirements. CCIT will educate and work with student groups to identify if there are other mediums to use instead of printing.

Undergraduate Student Groups may apply for operational funds from the Undergraduate Student Government. If approved, a request can be sent to ithelp@clemson.edu and a Student Group/Organization Card can be created. This card will be held (owned) by the President of the organization.

Communications

Policy Reviews

Going forward, the Print Quota Policy and Process will be reviewed after Phase 1 (CCIT Lab and Plotting implementation), then will be reviewed annually and adjusted as needed based on student impact, cost effectiveness, and environmental benefits.

Revisions

Version 9.0, March 18, 2010