Print Wisely Program

In the Spring 2006 semester, Goucher College implemented a “Print Wisely” program. The purpose of this program is to discourage wasteful printing, conserve environmental resources, and control printing costs to avoid passing these rising costs to students. Decisions on the aspects of this program were developed in collaboration with students.

  1. Students will each have a quota of 400 printing points for the semester.
  2. When a student logs into a public or lab workstation, the student’s current balance will be displayed.
  3. Each time a student wants to print a document, a confirmation dialog box will appear before the job is printed to the printing cloud or a networked printer. The student has a choice to either print or cancel the printing of the document.
  4. When a student’s balance goes below 101 points, a low balance notification message will be e-mailed to the student. This is a one-time e-mail. No repeat messages are sent.
  5. Most student network printers are set up to print on both sides of a piece of paper. Each sheet of paper that is printed will count as 1 page. This means if a student prints on both sides of a page, that will count as 1 page as well.
  6. If a student prints on a b/w network printer, each page will reduce the student's balance by 1 point. If a student prints on a color network printer, each color page will reduce the student’s balance by 3 points.
  7. If a student depletes his or her quota of 400 points, the student will be able to purchase an additional 100 points for $5.00.  Go to https://onecard.goucher.edu, login, and select "Deposit to Print Wisely".  After you have made the deposit, Information Technology will be notified to add the purchased points to your account. 
  8. If a student does not use his or her quota of 400 points, the balance will not be forwarded to the next semester. Students will start with a new 400 points at the beginning of the next semester.
  9. If a student purchases additional points but does not use all of the purchased points during the Fall semester, the balance of these purchased points will be carried forward to the Spring semester.
  10. If a student purchases additional points but does not use all of the purchased points during the Spring semester, the balance of these purchased points will not be carried forward to the Fall semester.

The aspects of this program were developed based on student questions, suggestions, and ideas, and the decisions on features of the program were made in collaboration with students. For more information about available printers and how to print, visit Mobility Print & Available Printers and Printing in the Athenaeum.