Courseguides get mixed reaction

Now limited to getting course information via the Internet, LSA students have mixed reactions to their college's exclusively online courseguides.

More than 11,000 students already have accessed the new versions, said Robert Wallin, director of the Office of Academic Information and Publications.

While online courseguides have been available and in use for several years, many students said the transition from hard copies to strictly online versions was drastic and too rapid.

Virginia Reese, associate director of LSA Academic Advising, said student response to the new system has been primarily positive.

But Mark Garrett, a student academic affairs Webmaster, said some students are upset because they claim the change was made too quickly.

SARA STILLMAN/Daily Student academic affairs Webmaster Mark Garrett and LSA academic adviser Jean Leverich help students use the new online course guides.

"Most of the complaints I've heard have been about the change," he said.

Out of about 15,000 e-mails LSA sent to students informing them about the courseguides, only about 60 negative e-mails came back, Reese said.

Some students said they were unsure as to why the switch was made in the first place. The new system will save the University $10,000 per semester in printing costs, which will be used to fund other academic programs, Wallin said.

The amount of paper used by the old system was not a motivation for the change, he said.

In order to help students use the online courseguide, the LSA Student Government Academic Affairs Committee has reserved time in the three Macintosh classrooms at the Angell Hall Computing Site where LSA advisers will provide students with advice about courses for two hours on certain days of the week.

LSA Academic Adviser Jean Leverich said students have not been eager to use the classrooms.

"We think there will be more people once registration begins," Leverich said.

Some departments have been printing their own hard-copy courseguides for their students.

MariJane Scott, secretary of the department of film and video studies said, "We have a paper copy, but we are referring students to the Web."

John Whittier-Ferguson, director of undergraduate studies in the English department, said he has received negative feedback about the new guides from some students.

"While it can be updated constantly, students have expressed disappointment in not being able to mark pages. It made it easier to have a hard copy," he said.

While students are encouraged to print the pages they are interested in, many students often overdraw their computing accounts with the amount of work they print for their classes, Whittier-Ferguson said.

Students also expressed concerns about long lines at the computing sites and Wolverine Access being inaccessible between 12 a.m. and 7 a.m., the only part of the day some students have to spend time using their computers.

LSA first-year student Becky Kinney said, "Although I see the possibilities of the online courseguide, there are major kinks in the system that need to be worked out before this can be a positive experience for students."

04-01-98