Last January ITC implemented the new pay for print policy to regulate the amount of printing going on in ITC and library computer labs on Grounds.
Despite the change, however, many professors continue to post large volumes of course material online for student access.
"It's inconvenient -- teachers assign us a lot of stuff to be printed out and we're required" to print it, third-year College student Ashley Newell said. "Professors use Internet articles as alternatives to textbooks -- it's nice to know what expenses are at the beginning of the semester."
Newell was not alone in her assessment of the current situation, which has drawn heavy criticism from both faculty and students.
The printing policy "affects me a lot," Biology Prof. Barry Condron said. "I have to compress my notes because students complain, then other students complain that they're compressed -- it's one more huge layer of difficulty."
Condron's class, Survival Biology for the New Millennium, has no textbook. Instead, Condron supplements his lecture material with information from the Internet, which changes daily as new scientific breakthroughs are being announced.
Condron explained that providing a pre-purchased course packet for the class would be impossible.
"I would, but I can't do that -- the course would be dead," he said. "I wouldn't want to teach it because it would take away the flavor of the course."
Anthropology Prof. Richard Handler said he did not see the printing policy as being detrimental to the teaching of his course.
"Before Toolkit, you had to make up the packets and have them printed and bound at the bookstore," he said. "It cost as much as printing it off sheet by sheet."
While Handler said printing may not be as convenient as buying a textbook at the beginning of the semester, he said the new printing policy is a much better system.
Despite the advantages of online course material, students said they still felt dissatisfied with the process.
"I am not happy," said third-year College student Meghan Laing. "It's ridiculous that we have to pay to print -- it's especially inconvenient for people without a Cav Advantage account."
Under ITC's new system, students only are able to pay for printing with Cavalier Advantage accounts, as printers cannot take coins or bills. The printers themselves are also more expensive to maintain, a problem which prompted the ITC office to implement the pay to print policy in order to help defray the cost.
Despite fees, some students say they enjoy the functionality of the new system.
"I guess I like it," second-year Engineering student Eon Slemp said. "I give it two thumbs up."
Although ITC could not be reached for comment, officials in the past have informed The Cavalier Daily that the pay to print system will not likely be changed.
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