Course schedule no longer offered in printed form

News that there will no longer be a print edition of the IU schedule of classes has been met with mixed reactions from staff, faculty and students. \nFrom now on, the schedule will only be available on the Registrar’s Web site.\nIU-Bloomington Registrar Roland Cote said the Web version is better than the old print version because it can be constantly updated.\n“The schedule of course offerings changes from the moment it is published; it changes daily,” Cote said. “Courses might be offered, canceled, changed in location, so the most accurate results can only be found online.”\nBut several academic advisors said the paper version of the class schedule is much easier to use.\n“The bad thing about the Web version is that you have to go from subject area back and forth over and over again,” said biology advisor Mary Anne Miller. “Whereas, if you had the book like we used to get, you could just open it up and go right to the course you wanted.”\nSuzanne Schwartz, coordinator of the Biochemistry Graduate Program, called the Web \nschedule “inefficient.”\n“From the advisors’ standpoint, in trying to talk to students and advise them, it’s just not user friendly with the online version,” \nSchwartz said.\nFor years, the Registrar’s office printed a booklet that listed all of the classes offered for a semester. \nCote said his office tried moving to a Web-only system a few years ago, but the reaction from different IU departments was so strong that the Registrar temporarily went back to a print version, and printed the schedule in the Indiana Daily Student instead of a \nseparate booklet. \nIDS Business Manager Susan Elkins said it only cost the University about $8,300 each time the guide was printed, but printing the booklets cost about 10 times \nas much. \nThe cost covered only the layout and printing fees, so the IDS made no profit from the guide.\nCote said the Registrar’s office surveyed students about the course schedule and most responded that they weren’t worried about having a paper copy of the schedule. \nIf students had protested the change, he said, they might’ve reconsidered their decision. \nMiller acknowledged that it was nice to have a recently updated schedule on the Web.\n“We’ve already changed some of our courses for spring, and we updated it right away, and they wouldn’t have gotten that with the booklet,” she said. “The book is really convenient, but it’s impossible to keep it updated.”