Although Course Announcement Bulletins have been printed and were distributed this week, the CAB's days are numbered.
"Both the course announcement and the University catalog will eventually disappear in the present state," said University Registrar Michael Pesta in reference to the CAB and the University Bulletin, which provides a more extensive listing of offered courses and is printed every three years.
The implementation of Banner, a comprehensive program that will replace systems and databases used for admissions, financial aid and course registration, will eliminate the need for both the CAB and the Brown Online Course Announcement, since students will register for courses directly from Banner's online catalog, Pesta explained.
Still, printing some form of the CAB for the next few years will help the University make a smooth transition from paper to online technology, Pesta said.
"I don't necessarily want to make too many changes at the same time," he said. "Even though paper technology is aging, I think there are good reasons to keep it to help support people as they become accustomed to the new system." He suggested printing a shorter summary of courses once Banner is implemented.
Pesta said he hopes students will be able to register for courses online in April of 2007. "But we've already experienced setbacks," he added. "It's hard to anticipate the problems you could run into along the way," he said.
In an interview with The Herald in March, Associate Provost Nancy Dunbar and Ellen Waite-Franzen, vice president for Computing and Information Services, did not posit a launch date for online registration, saying the sheer magnitude of the project makes it difficult to predict when students will be able to use Banner to register for courses.
If online course registration is not available by April 2007, the program will be used in April 2008, Pesta said. Implementing the system when students begin to register for a new school year rather than in the middle of the school year will reduce confusion, he added.
Pesta would not disclose how much printing the CAB costs the University each year. In a November interview with The Herald, he said the cost of printing the CAB will not factor in the University's decision to continue producing it.
Pesta said he does not know how students will access crucial information currently found in the front and back of the CAB, such as academic regulations and concentration requirements, once the CAB is no longer printed. He added that it will be the University's responsibility to make the information easily accessible online.
Students offered varying opinions on the CAB.
"I never looked at (it)," said Kevin Chang '06. A print form of course listings should be available to students, but "it's probably a waste of paper," Chang added.
Cindy Swain '09 said the CAB is more useful than BOCA because students can view several courses on the same page at once, instead of one course for each page of BOCA. "I'm more inclined to look at departments I wouldn't normally look at," she said. Both said BOCA is necessary, however, because it provides the most up-to-date information.
