LCC Student Printing Policies
LCC has instituted fee based printing in all student areas. With this new action come a number of policies regarding its use. These policies define how a student will qualify for printing, how they will pay for it, and what they should do if there are problems.
Eligibility
Any user logged into a targeted classroom, lab, or other student area as determined by LCC’s Information Services and College Development division may use Print Services for printing needs. It is expected that all Print Service users will read and abide by LCC’s Acceptable Use Policy.
Acquiring Print Credits
Print credits are required to print to any student printer at LCC. The number of credits required to print varies by the type of job and printer, and is published in the Help Tab section on Star Port.
An initial allotment of 150 credits will be given to each enrolled student every semester. If a user does not use these credits they may accrue up to a maximum of 500.
Users may acquire additional credits at any of the 20 campus locations published on Star Port. Payment may only be made using a LCC StarCard. At these locations, an attendant will deduct the amount from the StarCard and add the credits to the person’s printing account.
Once credits have been added to a user’s printing account, credits cannot be refunded or transferred.
Unused purchased credits are available for the lifetime of the user's account.
A user can check the status of their account at any time by using their TUID to log in at any LCC student accessible computer.
Print Pricing
Each credit costs $.05.
A maximum of $20 per transaction will be allowed.
Laser printing, color printing, and plotting will be tracked using this system.
The following pricing will apply
Laser printing -1 credit per page
Color printing - 20 credits per page
Plotting - 20 credits per plot.
Information Sources
General information for printing is available on Star Port. Star Port includes the policy for engaging and executing the ability to print, as well as support procedures. Other background information, such as printer locations, and attendant locations are also included.
Star Port printing information will be periodically updated to reflect function and policy currently supported.
Information relevant to the use of student printing is posted in each printer location, including the name of the printer, credit cost per page, usage requirements, the nearest available alternate printers, and information required when phoning in a printer problem.
Print Job Execution
Users may send a print job to a supported printer only if they have a positive credit balance.
To access a supported printer, the user must be logged in using their TUID and then select a printer from the printer list within Windows XP.
The local laser printer name may be found in the Windows XP printer list, in Active Directory, on the printer itself, and displayed prominently on wall postings in each printing location.
All users should assume that all available printers will deduct credits from their account.
After the user has executed a print job, they are responsible for monitoring printer status and collecting their print job. In some instances an instructor or lab aide will be required to retrieve the output for the user.
After the print job has executed successfully, the user's account credits are reduced based on the applicable printer rate and the number of pages printed.
If the print job consumes more credits than are available within the user's account, the job will terminate at the point of zero balance. The user must acquire additional credits and bring the level to a positive value before the job can be finished.
LCC user printing is compatible with any application that uses the native print spooler of Windows XP.
All print job execution information will be logged for audit purposes. A statement is available for users upon request.
Support of LCC User Printing
LCC user printing is designed to minimally impact the user in their normal use of LCC student applications. Print jobs will execute successfully for the most part. However, some print jobs may not execute properly due to conditions such as hardware state, configuration issues, and physical problems such as paper jams or toner conditions. The following policies are established for identifying, resolving and preventing printing failure.
Computer lab and classroom support resources are responsible for the installation, configuration, monitoring and maintenance of all LCC printers. Maintenance includes, but is not limited to, replenishing paper and toner and responding to error conditions.
Computer lab and classroom support resources will regularly inspect LCC printers for physical problems.
When a support resource detects a problem condition with a printer, they will call the LCC Help Desk at extension 5221 to help troubleshoot the problem. If the problem cannot be resolved over the phone in a timely fashion, the Help Desk technician will create a service request to dispatch an on-site technician. An assigned service request tracking number will be given at the end of the call.
When a user experiences a printing problem, they should first request assistance from the instructor or lab staff if the printing facility is attended. If the facility is unattended, users are to use the campus phone provided in the facility to place a Service Request with the LCC Help Desk. Users shall be prepared to provide context information to the support resource, such as the application used to invoke the print job, error conditions and any error messages. Information required when reporting a printing problem is posted in the printing facility near the phone. If the problem cannot be resolved over the phone in a timely fashion, the Help Desk technician will create a service request to dispatch an on-site technician. An assigned service request tracking number will be given at the end of the call.
If the printer error prevents the printing of jobs, a computer lab and classroom support resource places the jobs in the print queue associated with that printer into a "hold" state. While a printer is down, no further jobs are accepted by that printer.
Once the printer error condition has been resolved, the printer will be made “ready” and new jobs for that printer will then be accepted. However, users may have to enter the Windows XP print queue to resume or cancel the print job.
Bad Page Recovery
In the event that a print job results in corrupted output due to printer error, the Lab will credit the user's account with the number of credits to reprint the affected pages properly. Credits are not provided for formatting mistakes, incorrect content, or other user factors.
If a print job is corrupted due to printer error, the user is to collect the output and bring it to the any of the 20 attended service centers. The service center will validate that corrupted output is due to printer error, and credit the user account.
Print credit requests will be tracked to uncover abuse trends.
