BY KELLY LEWIS
Most students who moved back to campus on Sunday, January 16, and Monday, January 17 have been figuring out how to use the new printers after the College replaced most of the multifunction devices over winter break.
Elizabeth Jalette, a junior and student aide at the library said she has received many questions concerning how to use the new printers.
“It hasn’t been too overwhelming, but some people forget about the email with the step by step instructions on how to set up the new system on their laptop,” Jalette said.
She said her favorite part about the new printers is the tap less key card sign in function.
Chief Information Officer Tamara Anderson, who is overseeing the project said the process of releasing a print job on the new HP printers has changed. There is a new tap ID feature where students and staff must register their Hill Card at a printer and from there on out, they may tap their Hill Card at a printer to release a job.
Another benefit of the upgrade from MobilePrint, (the old program) to Mobility Print, also known as PaperCut (the new program) is that it only needs to be installed on a student or faculty members’ device once.
“Instead of needing to upload documents to a website in order to print, Mobility Print is a one-time install available on Windows, Mac and mobile, which allows you to add the printers of your choice from a list of available printers, and then print the way you normally would,” an email sent out by the IT Department on Friday, January 14, said.
“One of the obvious benefits is just newer devices, so we expect to have fewer problems,” Anderson said. “It's just like a car, the older it gets the more issues you have with it.”
Anderson said students can also now copy and scan-to-email, which they did not have with the old printers.
There have been some flaws in the new technology, but none that can’t be resolved, she said.
Anderson said Mac users were experiencing the most trouble with printing during the first week of classes, but most of the problems have been resolved.
Some students reported troubles with the tap ID function.
Elise Auriemma, a sophomore, and Macbook owner said she followed along with the video when setting up the printing, but when she went to tap her Hill Card, it didn’t work.
“I had to use the touch screen to enter my Stonehill username and password, and then I was able to print,” Auriemma said.
“We are working to resolve all the common issues, but when we talk about troubleshooting, the best case is to bring your device to the IT service desk,” Anderson said. “The more information we can get, the quicker we can resolve.”
Anderson said the change was prompted when Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Jeanne M. Finlayson asked a team that included members from IT, purchasing, and mail and print services to look at the College’s existing printing environment.
“She asked us what some of our needs might be and to come up with solutions,” Anderson said.
Anderson said the College had an existing seven-year agreement with the manufacturer Xerox to provide multi-function devices (printers), that was coming to an end. Anderson along with the Department of IT chose a new service vendor, who has been assisting them in acquiring the new HP multifunction devices.
Seventy-eight new HP laser printers have been installed on campus, but due to supply chain issues, not all new printers have been delivered and installed. Thirty-nine of the roughly seven-year-old Xerox printers remain on campus.
Anderson said they are expecting the delivery of the remainder of the new printers in the coming weeks, and hope to have them installed over spring break.
According to the email from IT, if a student or faculty member has any questions or needs assistance with printing they may contact the Service Desk at 508-565-1111 or send an email to service-desk@stonehill.edu.
Walk-in-service is also available at the IT Service Desk located in Duffy 025. Hours are Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Anderson said if you can’t get a hold of IT or if all else fails, go to one of the computer labs on campus to print. The computers in these labs, (Duffy 115, 210, Meehan 104, Library 313) are directly connected to the printers.
Still haven’t figure out how to print with the new program? Here are some hopefully easy steps and tips to follow:
Register your hill card at a new HP printer by tapping your hill card to the printer and enter your existing Stonehill username and password
2. Set up Mobility Print on your laptop (*note this step is different for Windows and Mac users)
3. Once PaperCut is downloaded you must open a pdf or word document, select print, and choose a specific printer
4. Release your print job - the easiest way is to tap your hill card to the printer
Photo courtesy of Abby Campbell and Kelly Lewis.