University Publishing in-plant at Washington State University is environmentally conscious operations

By Dawn Greenlaw-Scully

Mobile Printing For Students ‘On The Go’

While keeping a spotlight on thoughtful, practical and productive green initiatives, the University Publishing team also continues to give the green light to empowering its printing services. After all, there’s still plenty of room for “smarter” printing on an environmentally responsible campus.

In October, University Publishing launched Coug Prints, a mobile printing program for WSU students. This student service was conceived and is directed by Sharon Kimble, manager of University Publishing’s Cougar Copies unit. The agency realized that students had limited printing access on campus.

“A lab might have 20 desktop computers and one printer,” notes Steven Rigby, director of Printing Services. Such a ratio makes plain the potential for bottlenecks and delays.

“In addition, a lot of students are using laptops around campus,” Rigby continues. “They had few printing capabilities beyond walking over to a copy shop.” And that meant going out of their way and possibly spending more money than necessary.

Coug Prints is a wireless solution for inexpensive, convenient and timely walk-up printing. Now, students working on campus can download print drivers from the Web and send files to any of the many self-service Canon and Ricoh output devices located on campus. Upon reaching a designated destination printer, the student swipes his/her Cougar student cash card to activate printing. Rigby counts 17 mobile output devices already on campus, with three more requested for installation.

“We have printers in high-traffic areas of campus, including all six libraries and several student computer labs,” he reports. “Students can also send jobs directly [electronically] to one of our three on-campus copy centers.”

Students can download printer drivers wherever there is Internet access on campus. “WSU is wired very well for Internet connectivity,” Rigby adds. “There are a few dead spots, such as on walkways, but there is good coverage on most parts of campus.”

Imagine: It’s 2:00 p.m. and Bob is in a student lounge working on his laptop to wrap up a term paper for a 4:00 class located on the other side of campus. Thanks to Coug Prints, Bob can send the finished file to the printer closest to the class, meet up with friends for a cup of coffee, meander across campus around 3:30 or even later, print his paper, and arrive at class early, prepared and well-caffeinated.

“Students are really excited about this new service,” Rigby attests.

A SCHOOL located in the southeastern part of the Evergreen State might be expected to maintain a green state of mind. And, indeed, Pullman-based Washington State University (WSU) prioritizes university-wide social responsibility, conservation and environmental practices.

So, it's not surprising that WSU's University Publishing office has established its own sustainability program, which promotes responsible usage of paper and other printing resources. Nor would it be unusual for the publishing agency to garner support from customers and colleagues on campus.