The center also is exploring high-volume printing options to support the explosion of course materials being delivered online and, in response to students' environmental concerns, ways to limit the cover pages that identify each printout's owner. As many as 13,000 pages are printed per day, compared with 10,000 pages per month on the VendaCard system. The printing queues in the labs are also much shorter now, and students obtain their printouts more quickly. In the old VendaCard system, laser printing was done on a stand-alone computer connected to a printer. With Net-Print, students do not have to switch computers, wait in lines, carry cash or manage VendaCards.
Students can track the printing progress and cancel their jobs or switch printers as needed.
Printing charges appear on the student's monthly bursar bill and also may be reviewed through the Net-Print web site. At 10 cents per page, Net-Print costs less than VendaCard, which is 15 cents per page.