Wichita State students often wait anxiously to pick up a printed copy of next year’s schedule of courses after midterm.

This year might be the last time the schedule is available in bot print and online editions, as the printed version is being eliminated.

Accuracy is a major reason for this decision, said Gina Crabtree, university registrar.

“Between the time when we send it to print and it’s delivered to the university, there are so many changes that it’s out of date the moment it comes off the press,” Crabtree said.

For example, if the course instructor, student capacity or classroom changes, that information is different than what is on the printed page. In contrast, the online schedule is updated as changes are made.

Running the schedule of courses exclusively online is a move toward sustainability. For the Spring 2014 schedule, about 20,000 booklets have been printed, fewer than before online schedules were available.

The printed schedule is distributed on the main and satellite campuses and to community locations, such as Dillons stores. Crabtree said WSU is the only public university in Kansas that still prints a schedule of courses. In exchange for not having a grab-and-go schedule, fewer material resources are used.

The proliferation of using the Internet for a convenience and efficiency tool is another reason for not printing the schedule.

“We made an institutional decision,” Crabtree said. “There was a time that we needed to have a printed schedule, and we feel now that we can stop printing it physically and rely more on the online [schedule].”

Some students may not even use the print schedule. Academic advisers see proof of this in their own offices.

Bob Rozzelle has been an academic advisor since 1978 in the Liberal Arts and Science advising center. He said students view the schedule on their tablets or smartphones while meeting with him for advising to compare the options.

Rozzelle agreed that up-to-date information online is the best way to go. He compared this with the transition from physical books to digital copies available on iPads or Kindles.

“But once you get comfortable with the adjustment, you forget that it was a challenge at all,” he said.