Campus technology officials implemented a new printing system, PaperCut, that allows students to print to any public printer on campus from their own device.
PaperCut replaced the university system that required students to transfer their papers to a flash drive or school computer before printing. Before accepting print jobs, the old system required a StarCard swipe at the printer connected to the computer in use.
The new system, implemented this semester, allows students to print from their own computers and mobile devices, as well as university computers. Instead of choosing from a list of printer options, students connect to the air print option “okcu_print.” They can send documents from anywhere on campus, as long as they are connected to the OCUsecure Wi-Fi. Their papers will print at any public printer on campus if they swipe their StarCard or enter their BlueLink login information on the printer screen.
Students can use their printing and BlueLink password to log into their online PaperCut account, which gives them access to the details of their printing information. They can view past and pending print jobs, as well as their card balance and environmental impact. The website also allows students to add money to their card balance. Printing costs 10 cents for black and white and 20 cents for color copies.
“I think the new printer is more convenient, but sometimes the student before me forgets to log out and I get confused,” said Lin Li, TESOL graduate. “I only have 20 minutes during break time, so I appreciate when I can log in and print right away.”
Gerry Hunt, chief information officer at Campus Technology Services, said there’s been a lot of excitement from staff about the new system.
“It’s much simpler than before, and it’s now easy for students to print from their own devices,” Hunt said. “It’s a brand new system, so we don’t know all the bugs yet. So far, some individual devices have had problems, but we’ve been able to solve them on a case-by-case basis.”
Dulaney-Browne Library staff members said they are excited about the new program because they manage the main student printers on campus, but they have experienced intermittent difficulties.
“It’s great when it works,” said Dr. Kristen Burkholder, access services librarian and associate professor of library science. “The areas in which we have the most frequent problems are printing PDFs and printing within browsers. Sometimes, if you switch browsers, it works better.”
Anthony Edwards, circulation technician, said he agrees that the system looks hopeful.
“It’s very nice to not have to print to a specific printer, but it’s definitely not flawless yet,” Edwards said. “One way or another, though, we’ll get it printed for you.”
If students have trouble immediately connecting to the printer server, they can visit okcu.edu/campus/resources/technology and choose the “Printing, Copying & Computer Resources” tab. From there, students can follow specific mobile printing instructions, view a full list of printer and copier locations and access the PaperCut login page.
Campus tech officials have installed the basics of the system, but they hope to add more features as the semester progresses, Hunt said.
One feature of PaperCut allows printer screens to show the environmental impact of the print job, down to the percentage of a tree it will kill. Hunt said administrators are encouraging professors to put assignments online, so this feature may help enforce that.
Some students said they were pleased with the system once they figured it out.
“I was really confused at first, but once they explained it to me, I thought it was the best thing that happened to this school,” said Franziska Harms, acting senior. “On a campus like this, where we’re all so busy and our time is so valuable, this is important.”
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