University Registrar Georgia McRae said the transition, which was designed to give departments more time to create their schedules and eliminate the problems that came with a printed schedule that was outdated by the time it reached students, has been largely successful.,”

A year after Marquette's move to eliminate printed schedules of classes, university officials and faculty say the paperless system has been a hit so far.

University Registrar Georgia McRae said the transition was designed to give departments more time to create their schedules and to eliminate the problems that came with a printed schedule that was outdated by the time it reached students. She said so far, the paperless system has been largely successful.

"I think it's been going well," she said. "We haven't heard any sharp criticism."

When the change was announced last fall, it was met with skepticism from some students and faculty who voiced concerns that relying on CheckMarq to look up classes would bog down students and advisers in a slow, unwieldy system.

In response, the registrar's office developed an online snapshot of the schedule so students and faculty could look up classes without accessing CheckMarq. The snapshot tool, McRae said, has been very popular.

In a survey of students and faculty conducted at the end of the Spring 2006 semester, comments from respondents included "Please keep the snapshot!" and the snapshot "is the best thing that has happened to advising in my 20-plus years at Marquette!"

Some respondents said they wanted the printed schedules back, but McRae said this sentiment would likely diminish as people got used to the new system.

Carla Hay, director of undergraduate studies and an associate professor of history, praised the registrar's office for making the paperless system viable.

"In my experience they were eminently successful," she said.

Kristy Nielson, associate professor of psychology and assistant chair of the department, said the snapshot of courses in particular has helped address the problems posed by CheckMarq.

"If we had to view things via CheckMarq as in the past, it would have been a nightmare," she said.

According to the survey, goals for further improving the online system include showing more program-specific information such as which courses count for certain core requirements and advertising the fact that students and faculty do not need to log into CheckMarq to see the schedule.

A number of the survey's goals have been or are in the process of being implemented, McRae said.

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