Students waiting the printed version of the 2002-2004 SHSU undergraduate catalog will have to wait a little longer. Richard Eglsaer, associate vice president of Academic Affairs, said catalogs would be available at the end of this month or early November. Eglsaer said it will cost the university $47,000 to print the catalog this year. He said he did not know the cost for the 2000-2002 catalogs to be printed, but said the cost per unit was not much higher that it is for the current catalog. Eglsaer also said he was not sure of the dates or months the previous catalogs were printed.Eglsaer said there would not be as many catalogs printed this year as in the past because there is now an online version.”There will only be about 60 percent of the total of last year’s catalogs published this year because, last year, people were just leaving them on the ground and other places,” said Eglsaer. He said the online version would eliminate the need for a large number of printed versions. The online version of the catalog is located on the SHSU Web site. It contains the text the printed version contains, and is organized with a series of links that guide the user to each college and specific degree plan. It also contains links to e-mail addresses for department heads and other faculty members. There were mixed feelings from faculty and students on whether the online version is better than the printed copy.Dr. Thomas Seifert, photography professor, said the main advantages of having an online version are accessibility and lower cost. “You’re able to update and change things and keep the catalog current, and the cost of updating is less,” Seifert said. “If it’s online and it’s not going to change, then I don’t need one [a printed version],” said freshman Tice Bain. “However, the printed one is more of a written in stone version.”Sophomore Jeffrey Bowden said having a printed version of the catalog is helpful for students that do not have personal computers to access it online. “The online version is great, but a printed version should be made available if requested,” said Bowden.Bowden said many times the printed catalog is more useful than the online version when searching for electives in other departments.”Printed catalogs are essential for the scheduling process,” said freshman Kyle Volkmer. “Without them, we have to go to the computer labs and wait.”
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