I would like the ability to add printer pages to my UB account online.
Please say it can be so! So yeah, while I didn't lose that much sleep over this issue, I did lose study time. Monday, I walked to the Academic Center to print out about 40 pages of readings. Suddenly, after launching five separate print jobs, I realized that the room was quiet. Too quiet. Aside from the hum of the fluorescent bulbs, there was no mechanical murmuring from the printers. My account had run dry. And what was I to do??! It was about 9pm. Without an option to increase my printing allocation, I could either read the scanned-in articles on the screen as PDFs or just scrap the studying plans until I could show up in-person at OTS and add more pages. I chose the latter idea. It spoke to my heart.
Well, I digress. I really do bow down before the tech staff here at UB. It's a thankless job to keep all our data efficient and virus-free. And it's also pretty sweet that each of us can have our own account for data storage. That's a unique benefit here at UB. So techies...I'm at your mercy!
CarolB actually beat me to the meat of my rave this week: UB's fitness center. I just think they've done an excellent job with the fact that it's tucked away on top of classrooms and uncomfortably partitioned into four sections around a basketball court (not to mention that the only access is through the slave-quarters stairs and a cold-war-inspired elevator shaft). The fitness center is just cool.
First, the fitness staff is friendly. Second, they seem to constantly be cleaning something--much appreciated maintenance given that it can get stuffy up there with only a few windows. Moreover, there is a high water fountains to students ratio. I'm convinced that this last plus will one day be a factor in US News rankings.
And if you're just now about to board the Good Ship Fitness at UB these days, you'll be able to take advantage of some pretty amazing new gym equipment. I've rarely seen a gym replace old fitness benches and workout mats to the extent that happened this May. It really speaks to the dedication of campus health going on the third floor!
One last thing: there is golf in the mornings and I think a Nintendo Wii in the evening too. Golf. Next to a foosball table. Seriously.
8 comments:
Whoops. Sorry about that. Loved your post! High water fountains to students ratio! I hope you keep ranting and raving all semester--this is fantastic. Hopefully, someone in OTS will respond to your request for adding printer pages to your account online. I'm interested in hearing their reaction. Thanks, Jason!
Jason,
Another great idea for improving the lab experience. You'd requested the ability to increase your page allotment online. We had a similar idea a few years ago that involved using a credit card online to pay for your pages but it got bogged down in transaction fees (which would have been almost more than the $5 for 100 pages).
What I like about your idea is that we could skip the credit card payment online and potentially use a form on the MyUB portal to just bill your account and you could take care of payment later. I can’t promise anything yet or give you a timeline, but we will put this on the development fast-track to see if we can create an interface that would let you add pages online, anytime. (BTW – with so many good ideas…do you need a job as a Student Assistant of GA?).
Paul Walsh, OTS Director of Instructional Technology
What? And miss out on the chance of interacting with people? Does anyone remember the early years when the first “pay at the pump” pumps hit the market? No more waiting in line, repeating "pump 3, pump 3" to yourself, and guessing how much your tank might take so you don't have to come back to get change.
Human interaction aside, I love the idea of a web form to request print pages online. It would be the next progression in print page balance.
For any who are interested, I’m going to give a brief (maybe) evolution of printer page balance over the past 5 years. It’s good to remember we need to keep pushing and also see how far we’ve come.
When I first came to UB, if you needed more print pages you’d go to the Bursar’s (then Business Office) if it was open, pay $5, and bring the paper receipt to the Call Center or BC 002 to increase the pages. If the Bursar’s was closed, you could go to the Call Center or BC 002 lab to sign a form saying it’s ok to charge that to your account. About 2 years ago, that form became the standard way to get more pages. No more walking from the lab, to the Bursar’s, then to the Call Center or BC002.
How would you know you needed more print pages? Only if you thought to check the balance while in the lab. Now you can view your print balance through the MyUB Portal under Computer Services. OK, so you need to plan a little and it’s not perfect; it’s an improvement over going to a lab just to check.
It would be great if we get to the point where, regardless of the lab you’re in and time of day, you don’t need to leave it at all.
With the history lesson portion out of the way, if green is where you want to go, maybe we need to stop printing these things and train ourselves to read them online? Instructional Technology is not my area so this is just philosophizing…
Reading online (or on a Kindle-like device) for pleasure must be different than reading for research and study. For me, reading for studying is about having the paper in my hand, highlighting key points, and paging through it as I study for an upcoming exam. For the sake of green and using less paper, how can we change study habits to use less paper?
Talk about the old ages… when I went to undergrad, collections of required readings were copied, bound, and students bought them at the beginning of the semester just like required books. Does that still happen?
FYI, it is also possible to get extra print pages from the reference desk at Langsdale. It saves people in the library a trip, and the reference desk may be open at times (until 8:30 M-Th, plus weekend hours) when the BC lab is closed. It still would not have helped at 9:00pm, but we have had several students trying to get work done in the library on a Sunday run out of printing pages, and they used to have to wait until Monday before they could buy more. So again, a small step in the right direction. Hopefully Paul will get that online form working.
And Stacey, I don't think coursepacks are that common anymore. Some publishers won a copyright infringement lawsuit against producers coursepacks (sometime in the late 90s, I believe) and I think either the expense and/or difficulty of complying with copyright lead to their demise. I am not 100% sure about that though.
Hey, Jason...I love your description of the fitness center. I like it because it is so unique - the basketball court in the center just did me in! And it is clean. After so many years of aerobic classes held in middle school gyms where I spent the hour trying desperately not to step on half-chewed gum stuck to the floor, or see the meatball sauce splattered on the windows (I'm not kidding. During one class, it was there the entire 6 weeks), the fitness center is a refreshing change. My only complaint...not enough electrical outlets in the locker room (not really that big of deal.)Anyway, thanks for backup to my post.
Well Jason, it took us a while, but your request is ready. You can now add printer pages via MyUB.
More information at http://www.ubalt.edu/digest/index.cfm?id=3080
-- Paul Walsh, Office of Technology Services
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