By 
Photo Credit/Paul Sharpe
By: CHRISSY BOHLMANN
Staff Writer
cmbohlma@iusb.edu
Amanda Duley had to print out her assignment before class. She rushed to the Education and Arts Building’s computer stations, selected print on the computer, slid her card at the printer and—no assignment.
This scenario happens to students at IU South Bend daily.
“I’ve missed out on assignments because I can’t find a printer to use,” Duley said in an online interview.
Dan Finch, programmer analyst, said problems such as Duley’s stem from “printer mapping issues.” He said a fail-safe way to print at every location, every time is to click on the “set printer” icon that is on every computer desktop.
“Press the icon on the desktop and it will force map the printers,” Finch said. “What that button does is install the printers and goes to the default.”
Students should report every printer and computer problem they find to helpdesk@iusb.edu, Paul Sharpe, executive director at the Office of the Vice President for Information Technology said.
“If we don’t know that there’s problems, we can’t fix them,” Sharpe said.
Sharpe said there are other printer-related issues slated to be addressed by University Information Technology Services (UITS). Soon UITS will label printer locations on maps in the hallways of Northside Hall, Sharpe said, and list queue names on printers to make sure students are selecting the right ones.
IU Mobile Print is an alternative way to print when students do not have their ID card. But it has been causing frustration to some students when it reportedly reduces printing allotment then does not print.
“Most problems seem to be when we’re using the website” Finch said. “We’re asking people, for right now, don’t use that method. We’re diligently trying to fix it.”
Once Mobile Print works, it will allow students to log into the webpage mobile.print.iu.edu, upload a document, select the desired printer, and have it print immediately, Finch said.
“Web release is not quite as smart of the release station” Finch said. “If the printer is offline or has a problem, it ate your job.”
Finch prefers that students use the release stations or email their files to print@iu.edu for now, until the problem is fixed.
There are several alternative ways to print for students who do not have their ID on their person, said Scotty Myers, manager of the Gateway Center.
Students may go to the Gateway Center, help desk, or any lab consultant to have their documents printed without having their student ID.
Myers encourages students not to lose their student IDs and keep track of them like they would their driver’s license.
“If you lose your student ID, it’s a $10 fee,” Myers said. “If your ID card becomes damaged, bring it in and that will be replaced for free.”
Other situations which qualify students for a free replacement ID are if the student has a name change or if their appearance changes drastically.
The charge for a new ID is added to your bursar account. Students who are replacing a lost student ID must bring their photo ID with them, Myers said.
