With
a view to resolving the laser printing problem in the Computing
Services Centre (CSC), the CSC has conducted a pilot run of
print monitoring system in the three large terminal rooms
and then the other teaching studios as well from mid December
2003 to mid January 2004 (i.e. the semester break). During
this period, the students were well informed of it and no
quota was set for them. From the data captured (mainly from
the three large terminal rooms), 3,509 students printed more
than 350,000 pages, including 33 students who printed over
1,000 pages individually. We monitored the print queues online
and reminded several students to print course-related materials
only. We noted that one particular student had printed over
2,700 pages within one day.
After
studying the standard provision of laser printing service
of other local universities, we began a trial run and started
with an initial print quota of 400 pages per student in Semester
B 2004. This quota is so far the most generous among all tertiary
institutions. When the print quota is exhausted or not enough
to support a print job, the print job will be rejected. For
trial purpose, students are allowed to unlimitedly extend
the print quota at 200 pages per application.
By the end of Week 6 of Semester B (February 2004), the following
printing statistics have been collected:
Pages
Printed
|
1-100
|
101-200
|
201-300
|
301-400
|
401-500
|
501-600
|
601-700
|
701-800
|
>800
|
Students
|
4,558
|
2,721
|
1,690
|
1,369
|
173
|
86
|
11
|
10
|
4
|
%
of Students
|
42.91
|
25.62
|
15.91
|
12.89
|
1.63
|
0.81
|
0.10
|
0.09
|
0.04
|
A total
of 10,622 students have printed 1,635,891 pages since the
start of semester B. The maximum number of pages printed by
individual students was 1,095 (one student). Also, we received
471 applications for quota extension from 425 students, and
below is a summary of the applications:
Application
for Quota Extension
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
Students
|
387
|
32
|
5
|
0
|
1
|
It was
observed that after the quota system (trial run) was announced,
students knew that there was a quota for their printing, and
they became more cautious. The majority (68.5%) used less
than half of their print quota by the middle of Semester B.
On 28
January 2004, we had a meeting with the student representatives
of the CSC User Group. We explained to them how the quota
system came into play, the detailed implementation of the
system and our plan on it. We also took note of the concerns
raised by the student representatives, and their valuable
comments would be considered.
In conclusion,
the quota system seems promising in resolving the laser printing
problem in the CSC. Future enhancement of the system and development
of a charge-back mechanism for quota extension are underway.
When Semester B ends, we will summarize the usage statistics,
findings, and comments from students to modify the system
and streamline our support. We hope that the deployment of
this quota system can help us meet our students' printing
need.