Why CPI?

• Background
• Rationale
• Benefits to the campus and community include
• Implementation Plan

Background:

CU-Boulder has developed a new policy requiring a per-page charge, over and above a minimum free quota, for students who use University printers.

The campus-wide program will include approximately 100 locations including all ITS-supported student labs, all Library sites, and all Housing-supported student labs

The proposal was first introduced after a 1999 student opinion survey conducted by the campus’s Environmental Center indicated support for the concept of pay for print. The full survey can be viewed here.

In spring 2000, the University of Colorado Student Union and the Boulder Faculty Assembly passed resolutions supporting the Blueprint for a Green Campus, which included a call for a new pay for printing policy. The blueprint and updates can be viewed here.

Financial contribution from the Student Technology Fee is $195,000 per academic year. This contribution includes $135,000 for printing consumables and $60,000 for replacement of printers.

Costs are escalating at approximately 20 percent per academic year based upon increased printing. The three departments are funding this cost without additional general funding from the campus.

Rationale:

Reasons for proposing the new policy were primarily:

• Environmental: considerably reduces paper usage.

• Economic Viability: with unfunded costs rising by 20 percent, the current funding model is no longer feasible and must change to accommodate the printing needs and associated costs.

• Fairness: avoids many students paying for large printing jobs by smaller number of students. Indiana University at Bloomington reported that prior to implementing a CPI solution, 15 percent of their students produced 46 percent of the printed output.

Benefits to the campus and community include:

• Reduced waste

• Equitable fee structure…pay according to usage

• Expanded services: color printing added; printing from personally owned computers over the wireless network

Estimated paper reduction; 50 percent has been reported at other universities.

Savings could be as high as 7.5 million prints per year (at the 50 percent savings rate).

In February 2001, the Housing Department eliminated free printing from computer labs in the residence halls, instead charging individual users. In the first year of implementation, Housing estimates a 55 percent reduction in paper use.

A reduction of 7.5 million prints per year saves:

• 1,260 trees annually

• 3,150 pounds of air pollution annually from manufacturing process

• 367,500 gallons of water annually from manufacturing process

• 215,355 kilowatt hours of electricity annually from manufacturing process

• 4,252 cubic feet of landfill annually

Implementation Plan:

• The new system will begin testing in July 2003 and implemented for the fall semester 2003.

• Cost is 10 cents per print, over a “free quota” for students who pay the computing fee of 100 prints per academic year.

• Estimated average cost to students is $27.78 per year.

• Users will be able to use their Buff OneCard to purchase prints.

• Students will be able to add value to their existing Buff OneCard at a variety of locations and over the Web. Also, students may use public patron card in any lab if they should lose their own card.

• Departments will be able to use departmental Buff OneCards for purposes of printing.

• Public patrons of libraries will be able to purchase public patron cards for printing in those libraries.