    |
FAQs
- How much does printing cost?
- How does the printing system work?
- When will these charges begin?
- How will I benefit from this change?
- How much will printing cost?
- How can I find out my balance?
- What if I don't print my whole allocation?
- How was the cost per page determined?
- Why can't the printing charge come out of fees I already pay?
- What if I make a mistake, select and print the wrong job?
- Is this really so much printing?
- What happens if the printer malfunctions?
- What if my major requires more printing than other majors?
Initial hardware costs are often mistakenly perceived as the bulk of the printing investment, where the majority of printing costs actually result from the heavy use of consumables.
Consumables are your paper and toner, which vary directly with the amount of printer usage. Toner cartridges are the most costly consumable item at an average cost of $0.05 to $0.08 for each black and white page, and $0.12 to $0.15 for a page with color. Pages with solid color graphics can cost $0.50 to $0.60 per page.
The average cost for paper is $0.01 to $0.02 per page, but premium paper can cost up to $0.06 to $0.08 per page. One of the most costly mistakes made in an attempt to lower printing costs is purchasing low-grade or recycled paper which has serious consequences. This paper is not refined which wears down expensive moving parts and toner cartridges.
Sources:
Lyra Research Inc., Printers vs. Copiers: Colliding Worlds
Lyra Research Inc., Cost per Page Database
Gregory, Margot M., "Control Your Printing Costs"
The PrintSense printing system is comprised of several components: a user workstation, a Novell NDPS Print Server, the Printer Accounting Server and printers.
When a lab computer user requests a print job, the Printer Accounting server will automatically check to see if the account exists. If no account exists, using your Novell username and password the system automatically creates your account on the Printer Accounting Server and credits you a 600 page free print allocation per semester. The system will automatically debit your account $0.05 for each printed page. If you print over your allocation you will still be able to print however, starting in the Fall 2005 semester a $0.05 charge for each additional page for printing will be added to your last student for that semester.
When will these charges begin?
As of August 21st, 2006...
1. All existing PrintSense accounts were reset to the new allocation of $30.00 or 600 prints per semester. New accounts created will automatically credit users with the same allocation.
2.
August
– December
2006,
all students printing in the colleges computer labs are encourage to go to My
PrintSense Account and monitor and budget their printing allocation
accordingly. If a user exceeds the allocation, they will still be able to print
but will incur an overage charge of $0.05 for each additional page.
3.
At the end of the Fall Semester
2006, any overage fees for the fall will be added to the student
bill.
6.
At the beginning of the Spring
Semester 2007 and each
semester there after,
all student printing accounts will be reset to the determined page
allocation.
7.
At the end of the Spring Semester
2007, and each semester there after any overage fees for that
respective semester will be added to the student bill.
8. There is no rollover on pages allocated. In other words, if you do not print your full allocation during a semester, you will not be able to carry the unprinted allocation amount to any other semester.
How will I benefit from the implementation of this system?
The College of New Jersey prints over 5 million pages in the computer labs each Academic year.
We estimate that up to 25% of the pages printed -- perhaps as much as 1 million pages per year -- end up in the recycle bin.
The Campus and community benefits include:
Reduced waste:
Estimated paper reduction; 50 percent has been reported at other universities.
A reduction of 2.5 million prints per year saves:
- 420 trees annually
- 1,050 pounds of air pollution annually from the manufacturing process
- 122,500 gallons of water annually from the manufacturing process
- 71,785 kilowatt hours of electricity annually from the
manufacturing process
- 4,252 cubic feet of land fill annually
How do I determine the cost of printing my document?
Each page/sheet of your document cost $.05. There is a way to determine a cost of a print job through Print Preview. You can utilize the Print Preview option to view the pages of your document. The Print Preview screen will provide you with a page count, and allow you to select which pages you would like to print.
How can I view my balance and check my statement?
Users can view their account activity using a web browser and Unix login credentials. To access your account information, click the My Printing Account link at the top left of this page. Fill in your username and password in the applet and click Sign In. It is not recommended to check the Save this password if your web browser prompts that option.
Note: Access to this Web viewer is only available on Campus.
What if I don't print my whole allocation of 600 prints?
If you do not print your whole allocation, you cannot carry over a balance. At the beginning of each semester all user account will be credited exactly 600 free prints.
How was the cost per page determined?
The cost per page is based on the cost of providing printing services. This includes cost of all printing hardware the infrastructure and consumables. The charge is strictly for cost recovery purposes.
The allocation is based on an data of students who printed in labs between August 2003 and May 2005. It is important to note that 80% of students never print more than 600 pages. However, the 20% of the students who printed between 600 and 23,777 pages, were responsible for 60% of the total amount of pages printed.
Example of print usage during Spring 2005 semester.
Why can't the printing charge come out of fees I already pay?
The Information Technology fee that students pay is used for a variety of purposes by the College which includes printing. The 600 credit allocation is what is included in the technology fee. Only those who exceed their allocation will be charged. Unfortunately printing is not used uniformly by all students. Some students do little or no printing, while others may be printing more than their "fair share". Charging directly for printing will allow each student to control what he or she spends on printing. It may also allow departments to refocus funds that were previously used for printing toward delivering new and improved services.
What if I make a mistake, select and print the wrong job?
If you make a mistake in what you print, it is your responsibility to cover the cost for that mistake.
Is this really so much printing?
5 million pages in eight months is a staggering amount. To help visualize that figure, here are some comparisons:
- Laid end-to-end, they would stretch nearly from The College of New Jersey to the tip of Florida.
- Stacked, they would stretch nearly 200 stories, 415 feet higher than the Empire State Building.
- Together, they weigh 23 tons. The average car weighs 1.5 tons.
- More than two acres of trees were cut down to produce them
What happens if the printer malfunctions during my print job?
If there is an issue with the print job due to a toner cartridge issues, paper jams or no paper, use the printing@tcnj.edu email address to report the incident. Please include the document name, date and time and the amount of pages that were affected in order to get your account credited. YOU MUST REPORT THE PROBLEM WITHIN 48 HOURS OF OCCURRENCE IN ORDER TO RECEIVE CREDIT, NO EXCEPTIONS!
What if my major requires more printing than other majors?
Information Technology and Records and Registration analyzed printing activity of students in each major over a full year and was not able to to find any evidence to support that any major required more printing than another.
PrintSense
Feedback Form
Please provide comments on the PrintSense Program so we can improve it.
