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Down a flight of stairs, in the basement of College Hall, there is a window that looks into an office. That office is home to a department that serves every other office across campus. In fact, it may be one of the most widely utilized departments at Íø±¬ÃÅ.

Any guesses?

Here are a few more hints. It’s run by four women, one of whom has worked here for more than 40 years. They love having visitors come chat at their window. And you’ll often hear laughter floating down the hallway, because they’re more than just coworkers. They’re friends.

By now you should be picturing warm stacks of paper and hearing the sound of whirring machines at work. That’s right – it’s Campus Printing.

A little-known secret about the department is just how many services the team provides. Those giant posters in Hemmingson? Yep, that’s them. The syllabi handed out to eager students at the beginning of the semester? Them, too. Oh, and thousands of diplomas, marking the end of each student’s journey at Íø±¬ÃÅ. Probably one of their biggest orders, year after year.

Supervisor Sandy Hank has seen a lot of orders come through that window. “I’ve been here for 42 years,” she says. “It’s where I started, and it’s where I’m finishing.”

In that time, she’s seen a lot of things change, too. “It all used to be hard copies,” she thinks back and continues, “typing things out manually, typing exams and tax returns, carbon paper forms, those kinds of things.”

Hank recalls “an 18-pager” for the Controller’s Office that came in either every month or once a quarter. She can’t remember the exact timeline, just the sheer amount of typing that report required. “It took up their whole budget,” she says.

Somewhere along the way Diana Lartz joined the team as a desktop publishing specialist.

“I’ve been here 28 years now, hired right into Campus Printing.” She’s jumped around departments a few times, trying out other roles across campus, “but I always ended up right back here,” she says smiling at the other three women sitting next to her. “It’s a very solid, very close, patient and tolerant family.”

“And hilarious, you forgot to mention hilarious,” adds Shiela Schulz, another desktop publishing specialist who’s worked there for seven years. “Up until recently, I was the newest person here,” she says, a fact that speaks to the environment and retention in Campus Printing. Not many departments can say the “newbie” of the group has worked there for nearly a decade.

The fourth and final member of printing’s finest foursome dethroned Schulz as the newest to the group – Chelsea Weiler, desktop publishing specialist, hits her one-year anniversary next month. Weiler came from a small Catholic school in Spokane Valley, switching jobs to be closer to her daughter, now a freshman at Íø±¬ÃÅ Prep. “At the time, I widened my job search to include Íø±¬ÃÅ, and I found the perfect fit,” she says.

These four women are behind-the-scenes of some of the University’s biggest print jobs, and right now just so happens to be their busiest time of year.

“It’s not just Commencement,” Hank says. “It’s all the different graduations for each department. They all have their own little ceremony, which means their own little booklets and certificates.” On top of all that – there’s signage for the events and, of course, the diplomas. Thousands of names printed neatly next to golden seals, waiting to be framed and hung in offices and homes across the country.

One particularly busy April, when it seemed like the printers were humming and scanning for hours on end, they started a tally. By the end of the month, the team had printed more than 800 posters. They haven’t kept track since, but Lartz thinks this year is no different.

The orders come in, mostly via email, not so much in-person anymore, and the team sends them to one of five machines – two big color printers, two big black-and-white printers and one small color printer. But you’d be surprised by the amount of work that happens between receiving the order and fulfilling it.

“We make a lot of people look good,” Hank says, and they all laugh in agreement, recalling the typos they’ve caught, the reformatting and the editing they’ve done, to ensure the product that’s handed back is top-quality.

“It’s a reflection on us, it’s a reflection on the University,” Lartz says. “And a lot of times people may not have the ability, the time or the knowledge. So, if we have the time, we help where we can.

The team is as busy as ever – maybe more so. Orders that were once almost entirely black and white now print in plenty of color, and the hours spent typing out “18-pagers” have streamlined a bit thanks to technological advancements. There is one change, however, they all agree they miss a lot.

“At one point, everything was in this building,” Hank says. “Now, there are all these buildings across campus, and everyone emails in their orders and sends others to pick them up.”

The window in the basement of College Hall used to be a hub for connection. Now, Schulz says with a laugh, they consider it a win when one of the few work-study students who come by to pick up orders knows their names.

At least one person still visits purely for the pleasure of connection – the ladies keep a cup of coffee hot and ready for Blaine Garvin, who stops by each morning for a sip and a chat. Though, not for much longer as the beloved political science professor is retiring at the end of the school year.

So, next time you have an order, pick it up in-person and maybe stop for a bit of conversation.

Or, Hank says, “If you need something printed, ask us first.” On top of being a fun group to hang out with, they’re also really good at what they do. “Just ask to see if we can make it work,” she says, “because we can do a lot of things people don’t know we can do.”