We’ve all been through it. It’s the night before a big paper is due, and you’re finally done. The countless hours of reading and outlining, the sound of rapid-fire typing in Falvey Library or your dorm room once you enter that elusive essay flow state, the triumph of hitting the 2000-word mark and wrapping up the last paragraph. But wait, aren’t you forgetting something? You still need to print out a paper copy for your 8:30 a.m. class tomorrow.
The challenges Villanovans face when it comes to the lack of easily accessible printers are numerous. From having to walk long distances to reach the nearest V-Print site to technical issues that further limit the number of viable options, these difficulties have cemented the Villanova printing system’s bad rap across campus. With Fall Semester in full swing, professors and students alike are opting for alternatives, like using PDF copies as opposed to paper packets, to avoid the inconveniences that come with attempting to print.
Most apparent is the low number of printers and their respective distances to key locations on campus, such as dorms and academic buildings. According to the Villanova University UNIT site, there are 12 VPrint sites with a total of 15 printers across Main, South and West Campus, as well as the Commons. That’s equivalent to 446 undergraduate students per printer—before taking into account the relative popularity of each site and the long lines they can quickly generate at points of increased use here at Villanova.
On the day of the Career Fair, for instance, in the hour leading up to the start of the event, dozens of students formed a line that wrapped around the first floor of Falvey, forced to wait up to an hour to get to the front and print their resumes. During periods of higher activity, like the days leading up to exam seasons or networking events, this issue is likely to persist unless action is taken by administrators and UNIT staff to alleviate the overburden on the most popular sites.
“Just finding the printers in general is hard,” freshman Siena Hall said. “I have no idea where many of them are besides Falvey, and sometimes some are broken, which is annoying.”
It’s not uncommon to run into technical problems while using the campus VPrint system, which requires students to either send a PDF to the service’s email address or upload documents directly through a sometimes-lengthy process. The printers themselves can also cause their fair share of issues, ranging from the minor paper jam to the unofficial “out of service” status that lasts for hours to days at some key locations.
It’s safe to say that some would still challenge complaints about the long lines or stress over getting documents printed in time. After all, if we learned not to procrastinate, we wouldn’t cause a pileup of students in the library an hour before the next big event on campus. If we got our assignments done with time to spare, nobody would have to worry about what to do when the printer in Spit stops working at 9 p.m. on a Sunday. But, realistically, this fundamental change in the time-management habits of college students isn’t happening anytime soon. So until then, we need solutions. Judging by student consensus, this could simply mean the allocation of University funds towards a few new sites (or printers per location), or a shift from the VPrint system to one that streamlines the process for users, decreasing wait times. No matter what potential improvements exist, one thing is clear: Villanovans have enough on our plates with our course loads, so having easy access to printers across campus will be one step towards reducing undue stress that can come with a challenging academic environment.
