Students who resent last-minute runs to the Sciences Library to print materials before class may be in luck — new printing stations have been installed in the Sharpe Refectory, Andrews Commons and Arnold Lounge, Computing and Information Services announced last week.
The expansion of the PAWPrints program was conceived last semester, said Ravi Pendse, vice president for CIS and chief information officer.
Pendse said printing was one of the issues brought up to him in the “variety of conversations” he held with the Admissions and Student Services Committee of the Undergraduate Council of Students.
The initiative comes in response to concerns that students lacked access to printing resources, said Sazzy Gourley ’16, UCS Admissions and Student Services Committee chair and UCS vice president-elect.
The new locations will ideally offer students more freedom when choosing where to print, Gourley added.
UCS provided CIS with a list of recommended locations, which it assessed based on accessibility, giving preference to locations that are open longer and are more convenient for students, Pendse said. CIS was ultimately “able to accommodate all requests” the committee made for locations, he added.
Gourley said the committee tried to choose locations that would “together encompass as much of campus as possible.”
“A lot of students spend time working in the Ratty,” he said, adding that as a “central hub on campus,” it is an effective spot for a printing station.
The new printing station in Arnold Lounge aims to make printing more convenient for first-years living in Keeney Quadrangle, Pendse said.
The former printing station in Emery-Woolley near the Verney-Woolley Dining Hall was moved to the renovated Andrews Commons to accommodate the Pembroke campus better, Gourley said.
The three new locations could be the first steps in a larger expansion of campus printing depending on their success.
The station in Arnold Lounge is a pilot for adding more printing stations to residence halls, Gourley said, adding that depending on the spot’s popularity, the committee may consider installing more printing stations in other dorms.
“Once we have data on how these stations are being used and how many students are taking advantage of the retooled wireless printing platform, we will be able to see where new stations need to be allocated,” Gourley said.
Each new printing station cost the University somewhere between $500 to $1,000 to install, Pendse said. The cost depends on the location and the technological resources, such as wiring, already available at various spots.
Student opinions on the new printing stations varied from neutral to supportive. Most students expressed support for the new stations in Arnold Lounge and Andrews Commons but remained ambivalent about those in the Ratty.
“If there’s space, then why not,” said Deionte Appling ’16, adding that he had no complaints about printing before the installations and does not mind walking to campus libraries.
Jake Kuhn ’17, who lives in Andrews Hall, said the new printing stations in Andrews Commons are much more convenient because he would otherwise have to walk to the SciLi or the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center to print.
Placing new printing stations in Andrews and Keeney gives “incoming freshmen a big advantage,” said Giulia Nicita ’15, adding that CIS should consider installing new printers to Perkins Hall.
Several students told The Herald they do not plan on using the new printing stations in the Ratty.
“I would never think to print in the Ratty,” said Matthew Kelley ’14, noting that “it’s sandwiched between the Rock, the Blue Room and the SciLi.”
Amy Phan ’15 said she doesn’t know how much she would use the printing stations at the Ratty because of its proximity to the SciLi.
“The Ratty is not really a study destination,” Kuhn said, though he noted that “people might go there to do some work while they’re eating.”
But some expressed a more optimistic outlook about how much use the Ratty’s printing stations will receive. Adding a printing station to the Ratty is “actually really convenient because a lot of people do work there,” Appling said.
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