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A new agreement between Concordia and Xerox will see existing multifunction printer-scanner-copiers on campus replaced and will, according to officials, contribute to creating a more sustainable environment.
The deal with Xerox is the result of a bidding process after Concordia's agreement with its previous supplier, Ricoh, expired on Sept. 1. The university's executive director of finance and business operation Marc Gauthier stated in a press release that the new agreement will provide a "true partnership in our core values including sustainability."
According to Concordia spokeswoman Chris Mota, the new supplier's contribution to sustainability includes providing machines that use less energy and having double-sided printing as the default option.
Although it is still unclear whether these new Xerox printers will contribute to the university's sustainability, Mariam Masud, Sustainable Concordia's sustainability coordinator, said she hopes the implications of the agreement will be positive.
"As [the administration] put thought into the process and are trying to create change, we hope that their decision was a good one," she said.
Masud indicated that the university had sought advice from her group about certain criteria for sustainability, touching on topics such as saving energy and ink cartridge disposal.
The deal with Xerox, which expires on April 30, 2015, will usher in a new way for students to print their documents, said Marc Larose, the digital store manager for the campus retail stores. He is currently working on a project to allow students to print directly from their student cards at any Xerox printer on campus.
"It's going to make self-service printing much easier for students," he said. "I'm hoping to place these new machines in areas throughout campus where I see a lot of students gathered with their laptops. Students will no longer have to only rely on the printers at the library."
This initiative means that Concordia students will be able to save their documents on a ‘cloud,' a kind of server, thereby enabling them to print anywhere on campus using their student card, which can be loaded at a loader or online. During this transition period, print cards will still function, but will eventually be phased out.
Larose said he hopes to have this self-service system implemented in time for the winter semester. He explains that because students will be able to print at any printer location on campus, the overall number of printers will be reduced.
"Right now we have a ratio of about two students for one printer, which is too much," he said. "To attain sustainability, we would need a ratio of six to eight students per printer, which is what we're hoping for now."
As for the Ricoh printers, some of which are almost 10 years old, Larose said he will be wiping their hard drives clean and would like to eventually see them resold to students.