Servicing Students: A Strategic Win at Villanova

Thanks to a new copy center and an enhancement to its WebCRD online job ordering system, Villanova University Central Services is producing more work for students than ever, and strengthening its strategic position in the process.

FOR 10 YEARS, copying services at Villanova University School of Law were provided by Xerox under a facilities management contract. There were, however, some strings attached. The university had to supply the toner. And students had to bring their own paper.

This didn't seem like a very good deal to Michael George, director of Central Services at Villanova University—especially not for the students. But there was little he could do about it. His 20-employee print and mail operation serves the main university, a separate entity from the law school. Still, when the law school announced plans to put up a new building, George saw an opportunity to get more involved.

"I approached the administration and I said, 'We'd certainly like an opportunity to come in and help you save some money by taking over the Xerox contract,' " he recalls. He stressed that his in-plant could provide better service for the students while reducing costs for the law school.

"When you step back and you look at this," George says, "you had an enormous amount of money going off campus."

As a result of his efforts, Central Services recently opened a new 1,100-square-foot copy center in the law school, equipped with a monochrome Canon imageRUNNER 7095 and a color imageRUNNER C5185. So far the center has been very busy printing and binding handouts, syllabi, court reviews, exams and more. A Canon service and supplies contract now covers the toner cartridges, and the law school supplies students with paper.

Student Printing Benefits In-plant

This expansion into the law school has increased the in-plant's access to student printing, which has been one of George's goals.

"We've been striving to get a toe hold on student print because it's a population that's constantly refreshed, and there's always a need there—and we are seeing a decline in faulty/staff printing," he reports. "When you're servicing students, it strengthens your position." After all, students are the whole reason a university exists.

To make life even easier for students, Central Services has implemented the Pharos Systems print management suite. Now law students can submit print jobs from their laptops from anywhere inside the law building. To retrieve them, they simply go to any of the 10 multi-function Canon devices in the building, swipe their student IDs (called Wildcards) and the job will be printed on the spot. Each law student gets 1,000 "free" prints a year.

• MORE ON
• DIGITAL PRINTING
• WORKFLOW/WEB-TO-PRINT