Printing services available at Saint Mary's were upgraded and expanded when Xerox Corporation took over the former College-run printing services facility Aug. 15. The College decided to stop operating its own printing facility and brought in a company to take over daily operations, Vice President of College Relations Shari Rodriguez said.
The College has been investigating several ways to lower administrative costs, she said, and "the printing services operation was just one example."
Rodriguez did not return Observer phone calls regarding how much Saint Mary's expected to save.
As part of the search process, Rodriguez said the College "issued a request for proposal for management of the copy center." In the end, she said, the Xerox Corporation offered "the most attractive proposal."
The new services provided by Xerox will continue to be housed in the College's facilities building, but the office name will be changed from Printing Services to The Document Center.
The reason for this title change, Rodriguez said, is the range of services that will now be available.
"It has been named a document center because of the variety of document services that are provided beyond simply making copies," she said. "The operation will assist the College with finding the most efficient and cost-effective management of document output."
While The Document Center will still be a "full-service copy shop" that offers black and white and color copies, presentation support, document assembly, lab manuals, and single color offset printing, Rodriguez said, several new features will also be
available to the College community.
These services include on-line job submission, pick-up and delivery service and copyright clearance assistance, Rodriguez said.
Along with the variety of services Xerox will be able to supply the College, one of the benefits of opting to have Xerox take-over printing services will be the company's "expertise that would be difficult to match in a self-operation," Rodriguez said.
For now, Xerox will remain in control of printing services at the College for the next three years. At that time, Rodriguez said, there will be a re-bidding to determine future plans.
Once the new academic building is completed, The Document Center will be moved from its current location to a new home in the Student Center, Rodriguez said.
She also said she hopes the changes being made to the College's printing services will "establish an operation that will be user-friendly and more accessible to students who choose to use it."
