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Friday, March 29, 2024
The Observer

OIT releases print quota data

Notre Dame’s Office of Information Technology (OIT), in conjunction with student government, released their Fall 2014 PrintND Report that highlights some of the key data on student printing in light of the printing quota controversy presented last semester.

According to the report, 90 percent of undergraduates print fewer than 1,000 pages per semester and 90 percent of graduate students print fewer than 1,500 pages without need for additional quota.

PrintQuota
Emily Danaher | The Observer


Junior Shuyang Li, student government's director of campus technology, said findings were based on data that OIT collected from the printing systems on campus and reflects the information OIT has recollected from student printing and printer usage on campus.

“At the beginning of this semester, we had a meeting with OIT to review printing metrics from last semester, and OIT provided us with all the data that came into the report,” Li said.

Li said student government attempted to monitor the new system throughout the past semester and has been in constant communication regarding the print quota changes with campus technology throughout the year.

“At the beginning of last semester, student government and senate formed a five-student team to get involved with and monitor the new printing system,” Li said. “We had monthly meetings with OIT as well as internal meetings to discuss what was good and not so good with the new printing system and to see how much students were using the new system.”

The new print quota system was implemented last semester in response to the financial deficit OIT faced with student printing, which totaled to more than $80,000. Li said OIT is still managing other changes in the new printing systems including the streamlining of the printing queues across campus, the transition towards the point system, issues with one-sided and double-sided printing and quota rollover across semesters.

Li said student government's frequent communication with OIT addressed changes to the new quota system, such as the issues of the price raise for one-sided printing. While OIT initially implemented an increase in one-sided printing as opposed to double-sided printing, student government negotiated a return to equal pricing in one sided and double sided printing, Li said.

“We thought [the change in price for single-sided printing] would be bad for students and had several discussions with OIT and pushed to change it back to the same [system],” Li said.

Li acknowledged that although the Print ND Report indicated lower printing quota usage, members of student senate expressed their constituents' complaints about the the quota's relatively lowered limit and the elimination of rollover print quota from year to year.

“There were three senators on the team who went out to their dorms heard other opinions as well,” Li said. “We heard a lot of student opinions that weren’t satisfied with the new system.”

Li said OIT has not indicated to student government officials that any additional changes will be made to the print quota system.

“I’m trying to make sure that everything we communicate to students at this point is accurate,” Li said.