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Computer Rooms Printing FAQ

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Computer Room Printing FAQ

Questions regarding the print policy:

Questions regarding more specific questions:

What is the printing policy and what does it mean?
 You will accrue charges of 11 cents per sheet for every sheet you print regardless if the printing is single-sided or double-sided. If you print 30 sheets or fewer during the quarter or summer session we will waive your printing charges.  If you print 31 sheets or more you will be billed for all accrued charges.
The charges will appear on your Student Bill.   If you are not a student an email bill will be sent to you with instructions detailing where and how to pay.

Why are you waiving some of the printing charges?
The campus has decided that it's not efficient to bill clients for small amounts.  Processing each bill costs the campus money so it just doesn't make sense to bill small amounts.  Therefore, if you print 30 or fewer sheets we will waive the charges you accrued.

Where can I find color printing and how is it charged?
Color printing is available in the Meyer Media Lab (1154 Meyer Hall), 1131 Meyer, 1101 Hart, 1102 Hart, 75 Hutchison, and 93 Hutchison. Each page costs $1.00 to print.  Double-sided printing is counted as two pages. Color printing is on a separate account from the regular black and white printing.

When does the quarter cycle start and end?
The quarter used for tracking printing starts on the first official day of the quarter (usually two days before the start of instruction) and ends on the day before the start of the next quarter.
Each summer session is considered a quarter of its own.  Summer sessions officially start on the first day of classes. This means that there are 5 possible "quarters" in one academic year.

Can I save my unused balance in one quarter for use in another quarter?
No, unused quota is not saved from previous quarters.  At the start of each quarter or summer session the sheet count is reset.

Which computing labs count toward this printing policy?
This policy applies to the general campus computer rooms that are open to all students, staff and faculty with a valid UC Davis computing Kerberos account (your UC Davis Login).
The rooms are:

  • 177 Memorial Union (The Station)
  • 1, 15, 21, 27, 241, and 247 Olson Hall
  • 1101 and 1102 Hart Hall
  • 163 and 182 Shields Library
  • 1131 and 1154 Meyer Hall
  • 73, 75, and 93 Hutchinson Hall
  • 2020 and 2060 Sciences Laboratory Building

Don't my student fees pay for printing and access to the computer labs?
The answer is no. Student fees do not support student computing nor do they support printing. We rely on state funding rather than student fees and often have to face difficult choices of services we can afford to provide to students. The majority of our funding comes from the California State Lottery. This Lottery funding pays for the computers, printers, toners and paper in the computer labs. Numerous universities, including several other University of California campuses, charge students for printing.

Where do my student fees go?
The UC Davis Office of Resource Management & Planning has information on the details of the student fee allocation. For detailed information, go to http://budget.ucdavis.edu/studentfees

How will I be billed?
If you are a student the printing charges will be added to your student account.  Generally the bill will be included in your quarterly fee statement.  You can pay your bill at the Cashier's office located in Dutton Hall, or by sending a payment in the mail.
Staff members and faculty member's bills will are processed differently (please see below).

I am a staff member. What does this mean to me?
The same  print charge policy applies to you.  But since you do not have a student account IET Computer Lab Management will send you a bill via email after the end of the billing cycle.  You can pay your printing bill by check, departmental recharge ID, or in person.  Details will be included in the email.

I am a faculty member. How does this affect me?
The same applies to you as to a staff member (please see previous question)
However as an instructor, students in your classes may ask you questions regarding reducing file size, notes layout, or length of course notes to help them conserve their print quotas.

Another method to provide course notes may be for you to call Repro Graphics at 752-COPY. Without leaving your office, you can have your course readers and syllabi printed, delivered to the campus Bookstore, and even incorporated directly into the course Website through MyUCDavis. This gives your students the options of either picking up the material at the Bookstore, or reading it online.

Can I print on the back of sheets that have already been printed?
Unfortunately the answer is No. Computer Lab Management has tried this before and our printers jam whenever they have used paper in them. When a sheet is printed the first time, the printers print the sheet at a high temperature that warps the paper and makes it curly. The printers always jam whenever there is a curled sheet of paper.

How do I know how many sheets I have printed so far?
Every time you print in any of the general computer rooms (see list of labs above), a message will appear on your computer screen informing you of the total number of sheets you have already used for that quarter up to the previous day.

In addition, a "Check Pages Printed" link will be provided as a Safari bookmark (on Macs) and the Start Menu (for Windows) on all the computers in the labs. This link will take you to a web page (http://clm.ucdavis.edu/secure/sheets.cgi) where you will be able to see a detailed list of the number of sheets you have used. To ensure the privacy of this information, you will be directed to enter your UC Davis Login ID.

You can also ask the Computer Room Consultant on duty for a detailed user print report.

How can I make the most out of my allotted sheets?
Printing duplexed (double-sided) is an easy way to reduce your printing.  Doing this can help cut your print count by half. The printers are set to print double-sided by default. To change settings, choose the printer named "Single Sided" or ask a CRC to show you how.

Printing multiple pages on one sheet is a great way to reduce paper waste and save on your quota. There are usually signs posted near the printers with instructions on how to do this. Or, you can ask the CRC on duty to walk you through the process.

One thing that can help Computer Lab Management reduce costs is to ensure that your print jobs are making efficient use of ink and colors. Some professors make slides with colorful backgrounds which only print out as solid black. Please notify your professors when this situation occurs and ask them to change to lighter backgrounds to conserve ink.

Other ways to reduce printing:

  • Print only documents that you need
  • Save electronic documents to disk instead of printing
  • Print only one copy
  • Utilize the print preview command and print only final drafts
  • Always remember to logout to prevent users from printing under your LoginID
  • Check with the Computer Room Consultant if you can not find your print job before printing again.
     

Printing from MyUCDavis usually results in a blank page. Why?
The My UCDavis website is divided into frames—basically many webpages coming together to make one unified webpage. To print the content desired with Mozilla, you need to specify which frame to print.

Open up File -: Print
Pick your selection under the Print Frames section
Click OK

Who can I talk to if I still have questions?
You may send your comments or questions to ietprinting@ucdavis.edu