After yearlong negotiations with ASG, Northwestern University Information Technology has changed its policy on printing fees, charging students 5 cents for the first 50 pages printed, nothing for the next 50, and 10 cents for any additional pages. But ASG leaders say they were hoping for more.
Associated Student Government leaders originally hoped to eliminate the fees but are now hoping to compromise on a quota system that would allow students to print 100 free copies per quarter, ASG President Jordan Heinz said.
“What NUIT has proposed is not exactly what we were hoping for,” said Courtney Brunsfeld, ASG’s student services vice president.
NUIT’s plan, Brunsfeld said, is at least a step toward the quota system, which would allow students to print a nominal amount of pages for free, and pay for any pages exceeding the quota.
“It’s not that we’re unhappy with the plan that NUIT proposed,” said Brunsfeld, a Weinberg junior. “It’s a great jumping-off point for us.”
NUIT started its printing fee policy during Fall Quarter 2000 in an effort to eliminate waste in its computer labs. The current policy applies to all NUIT labs on campus but does not include the lab on the main floor of University Library.
The main floor library lab falls under library administration, and its policy will remain the same, with students being charged 5 cents per printout regardless of how many pages they print.
ASG leaders sent proposals to eliminate printing fees to both NUIT and the library last academic year, and later began negotiations with NUIT. ASG also plans to work with the library to arrange a quota system, Brunsfeld said.
Even if students are not happy with NUIT’s campuswide policy, NUIT officials said they are pleased with the outcome.
Printing in NUIT labs decreased between 66 percent and 75 percent overall during last academic year, said Audrey Rosen, senior publications editor for NUIT.
The number of students using printing labs also went down between 27 percent and 47 percent last year, Rosen said.
But those numbers don’t mean fewer students are using university-funded printing services.
Music junior Chris Brody has found a way to circumvent the system.
“I actually have never paid printing fees, because I know a place on campus where you don’t have to pay printing fees,” Brody said.
The owners of the location, however, asked Brody to promise he would not reveal their secret to others, because they fear that would attract crowds taking advantage of the service.
Even though he has managed to get around the policy, Brody said he disagrees with the idea of the fees.
“I have the standard responses that everyone has,” he said. “I think it’s lame.”
According to an NUIT press release, the fees only recover a portion of NUIT’s printing costs.
“What we’re charging students initially is below market cost,” Rosen said of the 5 cent fee for a student’s first 50 pages.
Market cost per copy is 10 cents, Rosen said, including the paper, ink, software, machinery and maintenance.
But Brunsfeld said market cost is a complicated issue.
“It doesn’t really matter to the students,” she said. “Students feel that they pay a lot to go to school here and that certain services should be included.”
Brody agreed, saying that while he would support a lowering in the fees, the actual fees themselves are the biggest problem.
“It’s more the hassle of having to pay for the pages than it is the actual amount that it costs,” he said.
