Starting with spring 2005 registration, fall and spring schedule books will be available to NIU students only online.

NIU deans agreed the printed schedule books were no longer a good way to transmit course information, said Don Larson, executive director of enrollment services.

“Often, at least 500 classes would be added after the schedule books are printed and students wouldn’t know about them,” Larson said.

Schedule books cost NIU about $40,000 a year to print, Larson said.

NIU administrators also took initiative from other universities to move the scheduling process in this direction, he said.

“We’re not pioneers in this area – other universities have been doing this for a long time and students on our campus are just as technically astute as they are anywhere else,” Larson said.

Talks of changing the schedule books to an online format began about two years ago, he said.

“The course finder on the search engine had to be rewritten and other things had to get into place before we could do this,” he said.

The system is being implemented for the spring because the number of continuing students is greater and students are familiar with the scheduling process, Larson said.

The online schedule Web site is updated every day and will allow students to print select pages, he said.

Some students said the schedule move from a print to online format will be difficult to adjust to.

“It’s kind of an inconvenience because I am more of a visual person and need a book to flip through,” senior sociology major Lisa Bonn said.

To find courses for spring 2005, go to:

www.courselistings.niu.edu/schedbook/servlet/search