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Issue 35, Winter 2006
by John Farquhar
While the Student Tech Center (STC) is known for offering daily workshops to students on a wide variety of technologies, the most popular services are actually color printing, photo printing, and large/medium format printing. Nearly half of the 2,250 students dropping into the Center during the 2005 fall term requested these services.
When students contact the STC, they are often seeking assistance with use of Photoshop, Publisher, or other programs that require or benefit from color printing. Many students use STC services to layout large-format posters for class presentations or poster sessions. Other times, students request help using programs like Excel to chart data in meaningful and colorful ways for class assignments.
Student assignments completed using such services have included academic posters, portfolios and displays, flyers and brochures, web designs, reports and display charts. An example of a faculty-initiated student project is the preparation of large posters of student “scooter” designs by industrial design students taught by faculty member Arunas Oslapas. These student poster designs were on display at the Whatcom Museum of History and Art as part of the museum’s recent “Motorcycles” exhibit.  Scooter posters at Whatcom Museum of History and Art In many instances, Tech Center staff members have coordinated with faculty to deliver technology training workshops in direct support of their instruction. For example, we delivered an individualized workshop to librarian Sylvia Tag’s class in Library Research for Communication Sciences & Disorders on use of Microsoft Publisher to create research-supported informational brochures. Following the workshops, the students were able to use the STC’s color printing resources to complete assignments.
Faculty Help In Planning Projects is Appreciated
Precisely because the STC printing services are so popular with students, we need your help in providing notice of impending projects involving printing. We appreciate hearing in advance from instructors who are giving assignments where the use of color, photo and large-format printing services are likely to be used. Keep in mind that the Student Tech Center has placed limits on the number of free color prints available to each student. These limits vary by service and are described in detail on the STC homepage.
The STC works hard to keep its services centered on students’ academic pursuits. In some cases, such as printing just one or two smaller pages for a brochure or report, students need no extra authorization from an instructor. 
For services requiring more consumables and staffing, such as the requests for expensive large-format printing, we are now requiring explicit instructor authorization. When requested by students, instructors can easily provide this authorization through an online form found at our website. We ask for a brief description of the assignment so that we can best assist your students in meeting your instructional goals. Instructors need only submit one authorization per class (rather than authorizations for individual students).
Note that the preparation of files for color printing, especially those for large-format printing, requires considerable more attention than printing in black-and-white. Consequently, we have developed standards and recommendations for any student working with us on these products. For example, we recommend designing academic posters for a standardized 30” by 40”. We also ask that each student schedule with us in advance an hour for set-up and printing.
We look forward to working with you in offering the above services to your students. If you have a particular need to support your course requirements, please do not hesitate to let us know. Our printing authorization form is but one way to contact us. Please visit our website for more information or give the STC a call at 650-4300.
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