Students wanting professional copy-making services won’t even have to leave campus.

A copy center run partially by students could open between June and the beginning of the fall semester, said Leo Simpson, adviser for Students In Free Enterprise.

The copy center will be called the WKU SIFE Copy Center and will be built next to the post office on the first floor of the Downing University Center, Simpson said.

Dining Services’ marketing department is currently located there, said Gary Meszaros, director of Auxiliary Services.

SIFE, Auxiliary Services and Ikon, an office equipment company, are partners in the copy center, Burkhart said.

SIFE is open to all students and has 2,000 chapters in 48 countries, SIFE President Seth Burkhart said.

The full-service copy center will provide collating and binding services off-campus at the local Ikon office, Simpson said. Simpson said he hopes the copies will be returned to the copy center on the same day.

The copy center will eventually pay for scholarships and employment for SIFE members, Simpson said.

The project began when one of the members of SIFE was inspired by her previous job at Kinko’s, Simpson said. SIFE members also attended a national SIFE conference, where many award-winning chapters had student-run businesses.

The group informally surveyed their friends about bringing a copy center to Western, Simpson said.

Interest was high, which spurred the development of the center.

Students will be able to e-mail their documents to the center and pay for the copies online, Simpson said.

Initial revenue from the copy center will pay for remodeling the space, he said.

SIFE members teamed with Western officials in developing the copy center after both groups discovered they were working on creating an on-campus business, Simpson said.

The SIFE members chose the Ikon company to help run the center because Western already had a contract with the company for its printing services, he said.

Ikon will continue as Western’s primary printer while providing services for the copy center, Simpson said.

Ikon will bring in expertise, equipment and two employees in the beginning while providing day-to-day management at the copy center, he said.

More employees will be added when needed, Simpson said.

SIFE will provide free marketing and publicity for the copy center, Burkhart said.

Auxiliary Services will manage the copy center and be financially responsible for it, Meszaros said.

Hopefully, management will one day be passed on to SIFE members, he said.

The center will be convenient for students, Meszaros said.

As a part-time faculty member, his students could spruce up their reports by binding them at the copy center.

“We’re providing a service students need,” Meszaros said.