At the start of the Fall 2019 semester, California Baptist University made the switch from having printers located in the Annie Gabriel Library to a new campus-wide online system of Wepa printers.
Wepa is a cloud-based printing company designed for college campuses to provide an easily accessible system that does not require servers and “fits easily into a student’s daily life and technology habits,” according to the website.
The site also explains multiple methods with which documents can be uploaded to the cloud for printing by creating a Wepa account through their website, eliminating the need for students to use only school computers when printing.
Tyler Sullins, assistant director of University Card Services and Information Technology services, said the decision to bring Wepa printers to CBU’s campus was one motivated mostly by the increase in the student population.
“Given the growth in enrollment and campus facilities, CBU was interested in expanding print services for students,” Sullins said. “IT investigated the technology and checked with other universities in the area for feedback. With CBU executive approval, initial rollout was over the summer in preparation for the fall start.”
Sullins also said these new printers have been highly utilized by students, with a total of more than 80,000 pages printed from Wepa kiosks on campus since September.
“Given the number of print jobs, it seems that students have been very receptive to the availability and convenience of these kiosks,” Sullins said.
“Even though the majority of prints are from the library, students are also utilizing kiosks located in housing areas.”
Shannon Herrera, junior nursing major, said these printers are more convenient than the previous system that CBU had in place.
“I like that I can just send it directly to a printer from my own laptop. It saves me a lot of time instead of going to the library and printing from one of the computers there,” Herrera said. “It’s also nice having printers all over campus.”
Gabrielle Flores, junior film production major, said she appreciates the new printers on campus but wishes they were more affordable for students.
“They’re easier to use than the old printers, but I don’t like that they’re more expensive,” Flores said. “As college students, we have a lot of other expenses and not everyone can afford to buy a printer for their apartment.”
Printing on the library printers originally cost students 5 cents per two pages, and now it is 10 cents per page or more.
Sullins said students are encouraged by the IT team to give feedback and suggestions on ways that technology services can be improved at CBU.
In addition to being available in the library during operating hours, printers are also available in living areas and other locations around campus 24 hours a day.
Wepa printers are available for students to access around campus after they create an account using their student ID information.
