toledoblade.com --

A new "Print Responsibly" campaign at Bowling Green State University could save $1.5 million a year and reduce pages printed by 40 percent.

BGSU is negotiating with a company to help reduce printing costs and use less paper.

The university should be aggressively seeking ways to cut costs for printing as well as accomplishing it in an environmentally friendly way, BGSU President Carol Cartwright said.

The university buys its own printers, toner, ink, and paper, but under a proposed agreement the university would instead pay per page printed, said Bruce Petryshak, the university's chief information officer.

BGSU is working with ComDoc in Uniontown, Ohio, to develop the "Print Responsibly" program, Mr. Petryshak said.

It would likely be that the university would commit to pay for a certain amount of printed pages as a minimum and then pay as you go, he said.

By paying per page instead of for all the equipment and main-tenance, the university could save $1.5 million annually, Mr. Petryshak said.

The university pays up to 5 cents per black and white printed page. It would pay under 2 cents in the proposed system.

The university has nearly 800 network printers, more than 600 desktop printers, and many facsimilie and copy machines.

Part of the cost savings also will come from consolidating those into multiuse machines.

An inventory will determine the number and quality of machines on campus and where other hardware would serve the university better.

The new program also will include new software to help reduce paper use, such as allowing someone to send a fax through their computer without having to first print it and take it to a fax machine, Mr. Petryshak said.

The campaign also would change the way students print on campus.

Now it's included in student fees, but the university is looking to change the process by giving each student a set amount of pages per semester.

A screen prompt would show students how much it would cost to print a page, making them think twice about hitting the print button, Mr. Petryshak said.

The university now averages 70 million pages annually among its faculty, staff, and students.

The goal is to reduce that by 28 million pages, or 40 percent.

President Cartwright recently sent a letter to faculty and staff telling them about the program.

It will be piloted this month with a number of departments volunteering to give it a try.

The goal is to include BGSU's main campus and the Firelands branch campus in Huron during the spring term.

"It's an opportunity to create some significant cost savings and environmental savings as well," Ms. Cartwright said.

"And unless you go at it in a university-wide way you don't reap those benefits."

Contact Meghan Gilbert-Cunningham
at: mcunningham@theblade.com
or 419-724-6134.

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