UA students no longer have to rush to the library to print last-minute assignments. With the swipe of a CatCard, students can print wirelessly from nine different campus locations, including the Student Union Memorial Center and Park Student Union.
Any UA community member with a NetID and password can upload their documents, then print from a Wireless Everywhere Print Anywhere printer, also known as WEPA.
“The thing we want to get across to our users is that it’s simple and it’s extremely convenient,” said Jenna Flanagan, marketing director for WEPA.
Although the wireless printers only hit campus on Tuesday, some students said they have already noticed the convenience.
Angela Kristof, a senior studying family studies and human development, rushed to print a document around 10:30 a.m. in order to make her 11 a.m. class across campus. Her document printed in seconds, she said.
“You never have to go the library again. If you download our print driver you never have to email your paper to yourself again,” Flanagan said. “Our units also can print from USB, so you’re able to walk right up to the unit with your USB drive and print your document.”
Students and faculty do not need to register in order to use the wireless printers because they automatically have an account through their NetID and password. All they have to do is download a print driver for their Mac or PC computer, which will allow them to print straight to the Wireless Everywhere Print Anywhere “cloud” printer from any location.
For students who procrastinate, these wireless printers will allow them to quickly print an assignment before heading to class.
“I don’t think it will take that much time because it’ll just be on your computer so you can print it out wherever, whenever,” said Hannah Bachelder, a sophomore studying family studies and human development. “I think it would be beneficial to a lot of people who schedule things last-minute.”
Once a student sends a document to the printer, it will stay in the printer’s queue for 24 hours. The student can then retrieve it from any of the WEPA printers around campus.
The cost to print a black and white document is 10 cents a page and $1 for a high definition color page. Customers can pay either with CatCash loaded onto their CatCard, or with a credit or debit card, which comes with a transaction fee.
“It’s more convenient for me because I can pay with my credit card. I couldn’t use one in (Fast Copy),” said physiology freshman Melissa Gordon.
Fast Copy will continue to print documents as well, but as of now, it is working with WEPA to try and get the word out about the wireless printers.
“With WEPA, you don’t have to have people behind the counter that are waiting on you. You don’t have to wait in the long lines because, hopefully, this will disperse the amount of printing to a bunch of different areas,” said Meghan McDavid, a customer service employee at Fast Copy. “So the wait time is going to be shorter and you will be able to print from your own computer.”
WEPA representatives will be on campus until Thursday showing interested customers how to use the wireless printers.
“I remember when I was a student and if my printer wasn’t working or the library printers were down, I wouldn’t have an option,” Flanagan said. “Well, WEPA gives you nine options to print here on campus and nine different places.”