Printing concerns have been temporarily fixed this semester by implementing unlimited and free printing. As of Fall 2017, PaperCut will go back to charging for additional printing.

The start of Fall 2016 began with concerns from faculty and students about a new printing system called PaperCut, which replaced GoPrint, the old printing system. Concerns with PaperCut consisted of the price of printing along with installing money on accounts for additional printing.

“I had trouble refilling my printing funds,” Zachary Bouchee, senior communication major, said. “I ran out in September and was only allowed to refill in $2 increments. One of my courses last semester required me to print a lot.”

Another student, Caitlin Wright, junior human resource major, also experienced some issues.

“The printer response would be very slow and wouldn’t print my pages at all,” Wright said.

In response to these concerns, customer service has decided that there will be free and unlimited printing for Spring 2017.

“There were problems and we wanted to make it right,” Jason Inman, director of customer service said. “This is why we decided to go with unlimited printing for this semester. We wanted to show our students that we recognize that.”

According to Inman, the decision to allow unlimited printing was to make sure that PNW students received good customer service and to help students and faculty adjust to the new printing system without worrying about problems with payment.

Last semester, when students experienced these problems, they could call customer service and would receive a $2 refill for the inconvenience, just as Bouchee did. Customer service wanted to expand on that.

“We want to give the best customer service that we can give to PNW students,” Inman said, “Especially since there have been many changes occurring since the unification.”

According to David McLees, technology administrator, PaperCut was implemented to help reduce the amount of printing that is not used for academic purposes.

“Students were printing 200-page books and instructions for the latest games that came out. It was not being used for academic purposes,” McLees said. “[PaperCut] is about making sure that all students have the resources that they need. That is why this system is important.”

Printing, however, for Fall 2017 will not be unlimited. As it was for GoPrint, credit will already be included on each students’ account for the purpose of free printing. With PaperCut, each student is given $1.75 per credit hour each semester. The cost to print in black and white is four cents and the costs to print in color is 10 cents. Once a student exceeds the credit that was given to them, they can purchase more credit on their MyPNW account.

Wright and Bouchee agree that unlimited printing for this semester will be beneficial for students and can help prepare students for the following semester.

“College students are generally working with limited funds, so the ability to print anything they could need for their classes without worrying about paying out of pocket for one semester really helps,” Wright said. “I also believe that it shows how seriously the printing service takes customer satisfaction.”