Starting June 29, students will have to pay with Bobcat Cash on their student IDs in order to use some of OU's printers.
Need to print something in Alden Library? Starting next week, you’ll have to pay first.
Ohio University's libraries will require students to pay with Bobcat Cash via their OU ID cards in order to use public printers.
This change, which starts June 29, will also include printers in the College of Business, as well as the Athens and Dublin campuses of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. More buildings on campus will adopt the “pay-to-print” system later this summer.
The new system will eliminate registration holds due to printing charges on student bills, according to an email sent to students from the Office of Information Technology. Students will also be able to print from anywhere by uploading documents to myprintercenter.ohio.edu or emailing documents to mobileprint@ohio.edu.
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“You can then go to any printer in the libraries or other participating location and release the print job by swiping your student ID card,” Carrie Preston, head of web services at OU Libraries, said in an email.
Another benefit to the change is that students will be able to print from their personal computer, tablets or phones without having to install software, Sean O’Malley, IT communication manager, said in an email.
“Students will now be able to print from any libraries computer to any libraries printer,” O’Malley said. “If the first printer they try is out of order, they’ll be able to just go directly to another printer, rather than being forced to return to a computer, log in and resend their document.”
Currently faculty, staff and guests can only print at specified “vended” printers. When the switch to Bobcat Cash takes place, they will be able to use any printer at one of OU’s libraries.
Students can add Bobcat Cash to their ID cards anytime using eAccounts, a process that is explained in detail on OU’s website.
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