Course listings have officially gone out of print at Washburn, and for the first time in its history there will be no booklets printed out for the spring 2009 semester because information will only be available online.

C.J. Crawford, Academic Scheduling and Commencement manager, was one of the faculty members heading the project, while Robin Bowen, vice president of academic affairs, was the one who approved the project. As of press time, Bowen was unavailable for comment. Crawford, though, has heard the idea for online listings being tossed around since the Banner program was integrated a few years ago with students and faculty. There was less need for printed course listings because they could be accessed online, as well.

“There are several schools across the United States that haven’t printed schedules in a decade or more, but as you can imagine, there is a resistance to change,” said Crawford.

Crawford said there are multiple other reasons behind the change, but the cost of printing isn’t one of them. Two years ago, the pieces weren’t in place when the idea was initially developed, but now a PDF file will be online and available to all students and faculty. Washburn hopes to eventually move to move to a dynamic course schedule, which would update class listings and availability of each course to students on a daily basis.

For some students, the problem is they don’t have Internet access at home. Fortunately, using a PDF file means that each page can be printed off individually, so a trip to one of the computer labs on campus would allow the student to print off what he or she needs. If someone is struggling with how to operate a PDF, Crawford suggests coming by her office in Morgan 264. Students can also talk to a computer technician in Bennett Hall.

Many students already use the online course listings and only pick up the printed copies because they are there and convenient to have on hand. But when students have been told classes are now only available to view online, many don’t seem to be bothered by the idea.