Print quota cut costs by 1 percent

Shahbender said that printing costs decreased so little in comparison to paper consumption because increases in the price of paper and toner offset the savings from the reduction in printing. Actual dollar amounts were not available.

Still, she added that she was not concerned that costs had only fallen by 1 percent.

“OIT and the Library would like to continue to provide the most cost-effective service we can,” Shahbender said.

The 17 percent decrease in paper consumption was 3 percentage points short of OIT’s goal of cutting printing by 20 percent. Shahbender said that OIT does not plan to make any changes to its policy, which is still in effect this academic year, and will continue to work toward the 20 percent mark.

The USG and OIT first proposed the quota in March 2009. Their goal was to reduce excess printing at libraries and computer clusters and to contribute to the University’s larger sustainability and cost-saving efforts. Undergraduate students had a quota of 2,100 sheets of paper during the academic year and graduate students were limited to 3,000 sheets.

Whether they went over or under their printing quotas, students said that they were satisfied with the results of the policy.

Phil Oasis ’13 said he wasn’t worried about the printing quota when it was first announced. He had an extra 1,000 pages left at the end of the year.

Despite exceeding the 2,100-page limit, Hannah Gu ’13 said that the policy was not an inconvenience — she just e-mailed OIT and her quota was increased by 200 pages.

Last March, the University received about 60 requests for quota increases, roughly 80 percent of which came from undergraduates. By that time, paper consumption had fallen 13 percent, saving the University roughly $27,000.

But Oasis, who said he was conscious of the quota while printing last year, added that he wasn’t sure paper consumption would continue to decrease.

“People thought about it a lot more when it was first implemented ... but it might bounce back this year because people won’t feel as pressured.”