Have you considered the time cost of asking employees to print to a printer located on a different floor or in a different part of the building?
During spring break, ImageNet Consulting began mapping and tagging all printers on campus. Upon completion of their assessment, they will give Campus Services and OIT a report showing the locations and types of printers in place today. They will also provide suggestions on how to optimize printing for each area.
ImageNet, Campus Services and OIT will review the reports and schedule a follow-up meeting with each department/area to discuss how to best optimize the printer hardware in their area to accommodate their printing needs. The layout of printers will be arranged to meet each area’s needs. No one should have to print to a printer located on a different floor from their office.
Local printers will not be removed without having good alternatives in place to accommodate printing needs and maintain business continuity. We want everyone to be able to continue doing their jobs in the most efficient way possible, placing printers in locations that provide for this, and yet still allowing the University to realize the savings of eliminating as many local desktop printers as possible.
Is the printer turn-in suggestion really a volunteer program, or will it be mandatory at some point?
Employees will not be required to turn in their personal printers, but can volunteer to recycle them through OIT by calling the Help Desk (8-HELP). If a faculty or staff member wants to continue using a personal printer, they must pay for the toner and any necessary repair services with their own personal money (not University funds). If a personal printer malfunctions in any way and is not covered by the campus under a special exception, it will not be replaced or repaired with SMU funding.
How will we address our need for color printing?
As noted above, ImageNet, Campus Services and OIT will review the reports from the assessments currently being conducted by ImageNet and schedule a meeting with each department/area to discuss how to best optimize the printer hardware in their area to accommodate their printing needs, including the need for color printing. A color printer should be accessible to all employees.
How will the new printing policy address security?
OIT will be working with ImageNet to be sure that every employee has access to a “secure release” printer. With secure release, faculty and staff can send files to a printer, but the documents will not print until the employee is standing at the printer and enters a code or swipes an ID to release the files. There will be a transition period for implementation of these secure release printers, and an employee’s local printer will not be removed until he/she has access to a secure printer.
Will the new printing and office supplies policies apply to remote employees (Taos, regional recruiters, etc.)?
Some remote offices will need to have a local/personal printer. We will not remove local printers without having good alternatives in place to accommodate printing needs. We will be working with the SMU-in-Taos campus and SMU-in-Plano offices later in 2015 to optimize the printers on those campuses after the Dallas main campus initiative is complete. Purchase of supplies for these remote offices will continue as they are today.
Can faculty and staff who opt to keep and maintain a desktop printer with their personal funds still purchase paper with University funds?
Yes. Standard size paper for SMU business use should be purchased by each area through Campus Services at a volume purchase rate.
Will faculty still be able to pay for toner out of research accounts?
Research accounts or restricted funds allocated to faculty are still subject to University policy, so toner cannot generally be purchased with those funds. Exceptions are where the donor or granting agency specifically includes in the funding the purchase of a printer and toner.
Why is ImageNet tagging personal printers if those will not be supported under the new policy?
There will be cases where a local desktop laser printer (not deskjet/inkjet) will be the best fit for someone – for example, in cases of isolated offices or specialized print functions (photo printers, check printers, label printers, signature printers, etc.) Hence, some desktop printers may be a part of the new printer layout.
