In an effort to cut down on printing and equipment leases, Hamline has partnered up with Marco on new printing, copying, and mail services in a program called PiperXpress, which will go into effect on June 1. 

Less printing and saving paper could become a real possibility by partnering with the technology company. But it will also require changes to the communication “culture” of the Hamline community, according to Director of Infrastructure Services Anthony Schroeder.

“We will be set up to be able to save more money by printing less, and that will require a culture change to use more electronic means to communicate,” Schroeder said. “Not that we will become completely paperless, but if we start printing less, the new model will help us see those savings more quickly.”

According to ITS Management Office Director John Hixon, each Hamline account will have an individual queue where the account holder can send their documents to print rather than a Hamline computer. This queue can be accessed at any printing station around campus with a Hamline login and ID card.

“That means you can go to any digital imager at Hamline, swipe your ID card and print your job,” Hixon said.

Hixon also said that this new queue feature and the installation of new Canon digital imagers compatible with Canon’s UniFLOW system allows print jobs to be sent wirelessly from any device with an email program.

“They simply email their document as an attachment from their Hamline email address to mobileprint@hamline.edu and it will put that attachment in their queue, which they can release at any device,” Hixon said.

Schroeder also said that if someone has a document they need printed from their Google account or a document that they would like scanned into their Google account, that will be accessible with the new printers.

According to Hixon, this new printing system will not change the ten cents per page printing fee already in place.

“There are no per-print cost changes associated with the move to this new PiperXpress partnership and program,” Hixon said.

Hixon also said that the Copy Center in the basement of Bush Student Center will feature a new web interface that allows individuals to upload documents that they need copied. Marco employees who staff the Copy Center will then print out these jobs. 

Pat Haney, a Marco representative, said that a new notification service will send an email to students when they have a package available to pick up.

Haney also noted that students may follow tracking services from these package delivery services and know when their package has arrived. However, Haney encourages students to wait until they have received the email from the PiperXpress program, because their package will be officially processed by the mail office at that point.

Hixon said Hamline had previously partnered with Ricoh/IKON for many years, but last year began searching for a program offering more cost-effective features.

“Hamline was looking for a partner that could provide similar services but with a model that encouraged more use of digital technology, such as scanning, and that further reduced the tendency to print paper,” Hixon said.

Hixon said that Marco already worked with Hamline on audio-technology services and already provided the services Hamline was looking for to other ACTC schools.

Schroeder said that Marco and their services was more aligned with what Hamline was looking for moving forward in terms of their digital technology capabilities.

“It was pretty obvious that Marco got that we were trying to reduce the amount of printing and build the cost model around the reduction of devices and printing, rather than locking us into leases for equipment, as our current vendor does,” Schroeder said.

For Schroeder, he is most excited about the new scanning feature.

“I have a lot of documents that I like to keep in digital format rather than paper copy for sending, sharing, archiving; and the ease of scanning into Google is fantastic,” Schroeder said.

Open houses were held May 9 and 13 in Bush Library and Giddens Learning Center allowing students, faculty and staff the opportunity to test the new printing technology.

Haney encourages any member of the Hamline community with suggestions or questions about the new services to contact him at pat.haney@marconet.com.