Tech’s Information Technology Services has implemented phase two of the Pharos Uniprint system and changed the billing process to eliminate future printing problems.
Charges will not incur during the second testing phase. The new change, printing in arrears, will allow students to pay after they print if they exceed quota.
“We didn’t want to create an environment where students couldn’t print when they needed to,” Annette Littrell, ITS manager, said.
In the first phase, students would have to put money on their Eagle cards before printing more than quota.
“Now students can print and don’t have to worry about delays in communications between Pharos and the Eagle card systems,” Littrell said.
Littrell said Pharos keeps up with the billing statements now, not the Eagle Card Office. The Eagle cards are needed to confirm identity.
Littrell said this is to ensure students get their correct print jobs released.
Each student will see an amount of $25 on his or her account at the beginning of each new term.
Negative charges will be sent to the Bursar’s office monthly. The next month’s balance will be reset to zero.
Students who don’t exceed their allowed amount won’t reach into the negative.
“This is a major shift in what everyone is used to,” Littrell said. “We’re getting the system up and running and trying to help students understand what our purpose is.”
Littrell said some students were concerned they would not be able to print enough.
Fewer than 200 students have gone exceeded quota so far, and 12 students have printed more than 2,000 sheets each.
“For majority of the students, this quota is sufficient,” she said.
Littrell said if students go over their quota, the money goes toward Technology Access Fee funds.
“This is so we can do other projects for students,” Littrell said.
Jerry Boyd, ITS assistant director, said more fees collected allow for funding more technology projects.
“We’re managing these projects for the departments to implement needed technologies,” Boyd said.
Littrell said students had 500,000 sheets to be released to print, but only 350,000 sheets were printed.
“Either students increased awareness of printing, or they never went and picked it up,” Littrell said. “Now that you have to stop and think about it before you release the prints, it saves more paper, ink and toner.”
Littrell said at the end of the semester the Pharos system will be moving into phase three. New printing features will become available during the summer.
The billing system will be live and students will be able to print from their personal devices when they release a print job.
