Requiring students to participate financially with their printing and copying needs, no matter how meager the charge, can have a major impact on a college’s printing budget. That’s what small Meredith College, Raleigh, N.C. discovered when it changed to a print process powered by Pharos Systems.

Meredith College was spending more than $90,000 a year for printers that weren’t being utilized. Not only that, anyone who knew where the campus network printers were could make use of them. There were also cases of a student printing out a 100-page document, even though she only needed two pages.

The solution decided upon by the all-women’s college included a mixture of printers and multifunction products that print, copy, scan, and fax. These Pharos Systems printers were spread throughout campus, where students and faculty had easy access to them.

Each device charges students for what they print and copy. Users send the print job to print from a campus workstation or laptop to the Pharos printer. The student chooses a printer and swipes her CBORD campus card, then picks up her print job.

Each full-time student’s campus card is allotted a print credit equivalent to $15 per semester for printing and copying. After they receive the $15 allocation, students are responsible for paying for their printing and copying.

Read more here.

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