Ohio University will replace the printed course catalogs with a program that makes the catalogs accessible through the university Web site by next fall.
The system will use the acalog Academic Catalog Management System through Digital Architecture, a technology solution company specializing in this software.
We're taking a paper-and-pencil operation to an electronic world
said Debra Benton, university registrar.
Under the current system, the undergraduate course catalog is published annually, and the graduate course catalog is published every other year. The current annual printing cost for the undergraduate catalog is more than $93,000 but does not include the cost of labor.
University Communications and Marketing, which publishes the course catalogs, wanted to publish the undergraduate catalog every other year to save on production costs, said Marty Tuck, associate provost for academic affairs.
Faculty members were concerned with this plan, he said, because the undergraduate curriculum changes more frequently than the graduate curriculum. Under a two-year cycle, updated course information might not reach students in a timely manner.
The committee decided in December to proceed with Digital Architecture, which produces acalog ACMS, and the university signed a contract with the company.
The chosen company had a better track record with comprehensive universities and schools of similar size and complexity to those of OU, such as the University of Virginia and the University of Maine, Tuck said.
The program also includes a shopping basket feature that could be used as a recruiting tool, he added. The feature, which Digital Architecture calls Portfolio, allows students to select and keep track of courses in which they are interested.
It will be available not just for Ohio University students but for potential students he said.
The annual cost of the program is $19,644, which pays for updates, support services and a fee to host the program on Digital Architecture's server. The first-year cost is $120,054, which covers the annual fee for the first year, the cost of making the transition from print to the electronic catalog ' an eight-10 week labor process ' and training a group of OU employees, who will in turn train others.
Tuck said that in the long run, the switch will save the university money not only on paper and printing but on editing and other labor involved in the publication of the course catalog
I think it is very important that the decision is not made mainly to save money said Tuck, adding that students might be more likely to use the new catalog than the current one.
Kelly Worden, representative for Digital Architecture, insists that the software is absolutely bug-free.
Another benefit of the electronic catalog, Benton said, is that each department will be able to make its own updates. With the current system, everything to be included must go through a central editing process.
The undergraduate catalog is in the process of being converted to its electronic form and should be available by Precollege this summer. If all goes as planned, the graduate catalog will be available in the late summer or early fall.
I'm looking forward to it
Benton said.
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