Printing service changes

As an organization managed and operated entirely by student volunteers, we don't have the financial resources, equipment, or facility space to sustain our current and projected levels of printing demand.

We have already implemented a number of measures to manage our levels of printing, including:

• draft-quality printing
• third-party toner
• 30-page daily limit

Despite measures, we estimate that we will print over 500,000 pages this semester and thus exceed our planned printing budget. While they have been largely successful, the savings have been offset by increases in membership without an increase in funding or student volunteers.

In addition to the budgetary challenges, our printing equipment is not designed for our current levels of printing and require constant repair due to frequent toner leaks, which reduce reliability and print quality.

In an effort to reduce costs and increase reliability, the OCF Board of Directors has introduced a weekday printing limit of 10 pages/day. The existing 30 page/day limit will currently continue on weekends. OCF may make additional changes to printing policy this semester and future semesters to manage increasing printing demand.

We recognize that this will greatly inconvenience students who do not own or otherwise have access to a printer, and we hope that this will encourage the university to consider affordable alternatives. We welcome feedback in person during our weekly meetings on Thursdays at 8pm in the California Conference Room (across the lab).

See the October 3 Board of Directors meeting minutes details on the decision and the alternatives that we considered.