Flexible online schedules replace the old printed schedules of yesterday
Braylin Jenkins
Issue date: 3/30/09 Section: News
It may be a come as a surprise to some, but the days of printed schedules on the large newspaper style booklets have come to an end. On March 16, 2009, the online scheduling guide officially was launched. March 16-27 is the official advising period.
The new online guide has been in the works for about a month. The link is located on the McNeese website's homepage and is listed as Class Schedule.
During a recent interview with April Millet with the Registrars Office, I learned in-depth information about the change and what it will consist of. The scheduling guide will not be printed this year for various reasons, the first of which is the cost of printing alone. There are usually 40,000 guides printed in the summer, 60,000 printed in the fall and 50,000 printed in the spring, which has a big financial impact on the department. Second, Blue and Gold Goes Green has been working to decrease the amount of paper used on campus, and this is one major way the Registrar's Office can assist their endeavors. Third, it is difficult to publicize new updates to the guide if any information changes. The new guide that is located in its entirety online is in real time. At any moment, information can be updated. It lists the instructor, the day of the week of the classes, the times for the classes and the class subjects.
A new feature is that while on the site, users are able to classify what is for undergraduate and graduate students and can also enter desired credit criteria. For example, if you only need x amount of credits and are only looking for classes that are worth those amount of credits, it will only pull up that specific number. It is also very simple to navigate the page. And as opposed to when you register and all the classes come up regardless of if they are full or available, on the site only the classes with availability will come up.
Millet does not feel there will be any confusion for students, especially considering that students are computer savvy. Students can expect to find everything that was previously printed. Users can also use the guide to learn how to apply, register and access any information pertaining to the university. Catalogs that list the entire school plan for students for different majors will continue to be printed.
The new online guide has been in the works for about a month. The link is located on the McNeese website's homepage and is listed as Class Schedule.
During a recent interview with April Millet with the Registrars Office, I learned in-depth information about the change and what it will consist of. The scheduling guide will not be printed this year for various reasons, the first of which is the cost of printing alone. There are usually 40,000 guides printed in the summer, 60,000 printed in the fall and 50,000 printed in the spring, which has a big financial impact on the department. Second, Blue and Gold Goes Green has been working to decrease the amount of paper used on campus, and this is one major way the Registrar's Office can assist their endeavors. Third, it is difficult to publicize new updates to the guide if any information changes. The new guide that is located in its entirety online is in real time. At any moment, information can be updated. It lists the instructor, the day of the week of the classes, the times for the classes and the class subjects.
A new feature is that while on the site, users are able to classify what is for undergraduate and graduate students and can also enter desired credit criteria. For example, if you only need x amount of credits and are only looking for classes that are worth those amount of credits, it will only pull up that specific number. It is also very simple to navigate the page. And as opposed to when you register and all the classes come up regardless of if they are full or available, on the site only the classes with availability will come up.
Millet does not feel there will be any confusion for students, especially considering that students are computer savvy. Students can expect to find everything that was previously printed. Users can also use the guide to learn how to apply, register and access any information pertaining to the university. Catalogs that list the entire school plan for students for different majors will continue to be printed.
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