Student organizations will be charged for printing and copying jobs run on the printer in Norris University Center’s SOURCE, effective immediately.

Organizations using the SOURCE printer will be charged $0.05 per black and white page and $0.25 per color page. Students will use assigned user codes to access the printer, and their usage will be tracked and billed through the Student Organization Finance Office at the end of each quarter, according to an email.

SOURCE is a multipurpose student resource space located on the third floor of Norris. Previously, student organizations could use their unique user codes to print and make copies free of charge.

However, after observing the volume of paper being used, assistant director of Student Organizations and Activities Joe Lattal said it was time for a change. Lattal met with representatives from the Office of Sustainability and Associate Student Government to discuss the printing charge.

“There needs to be a change in printing because students have come to abuse how printing has been free,” said Rosalie Gambrah, ASG vice president of student activities and a Weinberg junior.

Lattal said in less than a three-month span at the end of the academic year, students printed roughly 28,000 pages on the SOURCE printer, averaging out to more than 300 pages a day.

Sustainability communications manager Stephanie Folk said the Office of Sustainability is working with SOA and other offices across campus to help them “go greener.” She said she hopes the SOURCE printing charge will create an incentive for students to be more thoughtful and sustainable in their practices.

“We hope it will encourage people to be conscious of how much paper they’re using while still being affordable enough for groups to do what they need to do in their operations,” Folk said.

Lattal and Folk said the printing charge at SOURCE is hardly a new phenomenon. Although neither could pinpoint the exact date of when SOURCE printing became free, they said students were charged for printing using a similar system in the past

Lattal said the newly enacted printing policy at SOURCE is a continuation of SOA’s efforts to promote sustainability on campus. He said last year, SOA received a staff excellence award for its sustainable efforts after decreasing paper usage in the fall organizations fair by ninety percent. Charging for SOURCE printing is simply the next step.

“We’re literally just looking to keep up that momentum and make sure that we’re in tune with the needs of our students as well as the needs of our planet,” Lattal said.

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Twitter: @kellipnguyen