On Wednesday, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) examined the success of the new printing policy and allocated funding for student services. Deputy Chief Information Officer Rebecca Sandlin and Director of Finance and Campus Services Del Wilson opened the meeting by addressing Bowdoin's printing policy. Enacted at the beginning of the 2010-2011 academic year, the policy allocated $60 to each student for printing, charging a per-page fee if a student exceeded that amount.
"Prior to enacting the policy, we surveyed over 40 peer institutions and reviewed their printing policies," Wilson said. "Some schools had charged for printing from the beginning, some gave students an allocation of funds, and others didn't charge anything."
"Our primary goal was simply to reduce paper use. It wasn't to gain revenue," he added.
Initially, the Bowdoin Printing Group (BPG), which was in charge of overseeing the policy, hoped that the change would reduce paper waste by at least 20 percent. The allocation was set at $60 after looking at past printing data, a limit which was expected to cover at least 80 percent of students at the College.
After reviewing data from the fall semester, Sandlin and Wilson concluded that the policy had achieved many of its goals. Printing was reduced by 30 percent and 94 percent of students did not print more than they were allocated, exceeding initial estimates. BPG plans to survey the 106 students who exceeded their allocation to see if any improvements can be made.
While some members of BSG raised grievances about particular cases when they were charged for print jobs they did not receive, Sandlin and Wilson reported that only eight students contacted the OneCard office to be reimbursed for printing last semester.
"We are very committed to insuring that there are no problems with the system," said Wilson. "Over Winter Break, we installed new software on all public printers, which hopefully will help them operate better."
BSG President John Connolly '11 proposed Information Technology set up a website dedicated to printer problems so issues can be resolved more effectively.
After concluding its discussion on printing, BSG allocated $1,500 toward the purchase of "Polar Bear Nation" shirts. With additional funding from the Athletics Department, the Athletic Council is looking to purchase at least 400 shirts. Athletics Representative Gen Barlow '13 hoped that the shirts would be available in time for a NESCAC or NCAA tournament game.
BSG also unanimously approved a measure to subsidize the cost of a shuttle to bring students to the Girl Talk concert in Portland on February 28. At-Large Representative Tessa Kramer '13 claimed that over 60 students expressed interest in a survey that was sent out to students earlier in the week. Students will purchase tickets for $5 each in order to ride the shuttle.