Aug. 22, 2005

The End of the Paper Syllabus

On the first day of classes, the ritual has been the same for decades: Professors hand out copies of the syllabus and walk students through it. But in most courses at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh this fall, the only thing professors may hand out is a URL.

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That’s because the dean of the College of Letters and Science told professors that — for financial and educational reasons — they should put their syllabuses online, and stop distributing them on the first day of classes. If students want to print out copies, they can do so themselves, says Michael Zimmerman, the dean.

Zimmerman says that the Wisconsin system’s budget “has been cut relentlessly” and that deans have no choice but to try to save every penny. Zimmerman has been dean for 14 years, and his college’s budget (about $18.5 million) is down from where it was when he started. Not a single unit in his college is receiving more money now than when he started, despite inflation generally and huge increases in costs such as scientific equipment.

“We have to set priorities,” he says.

The college never figured out the exact cost of printing syllabuses, he says. But copies cost the college about 2 cents a page, nearly all of the university’s 11,000 students take at least some classes in the college, and syllabuses run from a page to 15 pages.

In making cuts, Zimmerman says, the college tries to protect its academic mission and the syllabus policy would never have been adopted if anyone thought it would hurt students. He adds that many professors elsewhere have already stopped handing out syllabuses. “A good number of people we’ve spoken to have never even seen a hard copy of a syllabus,” he says.

From an educational perspective, the policy could help students if they go to professors’ Web sites before classes start, and either read or print out a copy. “If they think about class before they show up the first day, it might enhance student learning,” he says.

Many faculty members disagree. “This is really idiotic,” says M. Kevin McGee, a professor of economics. “You want access to something like the syllabus in your notebook and with your papers. You need it in paper form,” McGee says, adding that Oshkosh students do not carry around laptops with any regularity.

McGee is no Luddite. He has for a number of years posted copies of his syllabi online, and thinks that is useful, but he says students expect and need a paper copy, too. “Essentially what the dean is telling us is, instead of sending one sheet of paper to the copy center to be printed, we send 100 or so students to the computer lab to print them slowly, one at a time. It’s a tremendous waste of student time.”

Zimmerman acknowledges that some professors are upset, and says he believes the change will not be as difficult as they predict. He adds that if a department chair wants to pay for syllabus printing, he won’t crack down. Says Zimmerman: “I’m not creating a syllabus police.”

— Scott Jaschik

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Comments

When the copier-counter strikes 1,000,000

I’ve heard of deans and provosts, sending out the copier budget report when the copier-counter hits 1,000,000. Kind of a staggering number — that’s 2,000 reams of paper.

As to educational requirements — why not have a second-day quiz on the syllabus content? Might actually improve overall performance.

As to possible unmet student needs — why not let students start up their own copying service? Y’know — give them a challenge?

IMHO, when challenged, students are pretty resourceful. Like exam week — less than 5% of my students needed No. 2 pencils.

Also — many students reported printing out multiple copies of the syllabus — that’s what mobile computing is supposed to be about.

Bart S., at 7:29 am EDT on August 22, 2005

entirely appropriate

Seems a good cost-saving measure. Students will use the same amount of paper printing it themselves, but on-demand and without wasted copies. I have not issued paper copies since 1998. Soon to go will be paper copies of student readers containing essential articles. Mine have been online since 2001. Very few student complaints. We coudl calculate the savings to budgets and to carbon budgets if everybody in North American universities followed Wisc. in this decision. Probably surprising and salutory.

SP, at 9:25 am EDT on August 22, 2005

Syllabi

Would faculty be prohibited from passing out syllabi, printed at their own expense at a local copy shop?

Bruce, at 9:25 am EDT on August 22, 2005

Paper copies

This works only at universities whose web sites are not tied up during the first week of classes with drop-adds and other high priority usage. I like a copy in each student’s hand on the first day.

Griff, Ole Miss, at 11:36 am EDT on August 22, 2005

No Syllabus

I can appreciate the attitude of Dean Zimmerman. He is concerned about the viewpoint of those in academia and not unreasonably authoritarian concerning this seemingly controversial policy.

I do agree that paper syllabus is a convenient and portable synopsis of the purpose and substantive elements for that class. However, I think that a lecture on the first day of class would substantially serve the same purpose; additionally, students could take notes and create their own version of a syllabus at no cost to the printing press of the university. This is not an earth-shattering change, and the students should not suffer in their structured learning program.

Bobbie J.Allen

Bobbie J.Allen, at 11:36 am EDT on August 22, 2005

What else does the university print out and copy? Which of those documents went before the syllabi?

Michael Class, at 12:42 pm EDT on August 22, 2005

The issue here is not online syllabi versus paper syllabi, but the dismal financial situation that caused Dean Zimmerman’s actions:

In other words, Dean Zimmerman is not promoting online syllabi in a misguided attempt to move students into a digital world. He came up with this recourse because he is frantically trying to save money in the face of huge cutbacks and significant inflation.

Peter C. Herman, Professor at San Diego State University, at 12:43 pm EDT on August 22, 2005

nice idea, but misguided

Saving trees and university funds are both essential and admirable. However, I agree with the other poster about the need for students to have a syllabus in hand on day one. WHen I walk my students through the syllabus, I want them to be looking at it with me, word for word. Sad to say, lots of students will not read it that closely on their own. They will not take absolutely accurate notes and so “their version” of the syllabus based on my reading it aloud to them would NOT suffice. Instead, I would either have to print out my own off-campus, at my expense, or bring in a laptop / projector to project the thing so they can follow along. And you know what? That still isn’t good enough. If they’re going to kill trees and spend univ. funds printing in the computer lab, let them have it on the day they most need it, in class.

Frankly, the college would do better to require faculty to post _every other handout_ from the semester online. Students could get into the habit of printing as part of their homework. But not the syllabus. I treat the syllabus as a legal document: here is what I will do, here’s what I expect from you. Not providing a copy of this document on day one is absurd.

prof k, at 1:06 pm EDT on August 22, 2005

This seems like a reasonable way to cut costs. Any student who wants a paper printout can have one, so long as they do it themselves. Hopefully, a projector or such will be provided for those professors who believe their students are too stupid to find the university web site.

Kevin, Undergraduate, at 5:03 pm EDT on August 22, 2005

Why Not Eliminate Syllabi?

The university lawyers probably wouldn’t let people do this, but why the heck do students have to have syllabi in the first place? If they actually were IN class to monitor assignments and due dates, that would be better all around. A syllabus up front constrains the instructor from adapting the material to the learning abilities of a particular section. I graduated from a reasonably good liberal arts college in 1975. I would estimate that only about 1/3 of the classes had a syllabus at all, and NONE of them had a daily course schedule on the syllabus. Things were fine. And attendance and keeping up on assignments were better. And it saved paper.

Jim, Professor at U of Jesusland, at 7:34 pm EDT on August 22, 2005

More than 2 cents’ worth

The factor that’s not being taken into consideration is that computer printer ink and technology is not designed to do what copier machines are designed to do; the computer lab’s funding is being asked to underwrite the cost of the department’s syllabi.

Computer printers print out at a much higher cost per page than copy machines. It’s quite likely that the school is actually paying double the cost per page printed.

Deanya Lattimore, at 5:35 pm EDT on August 25, 2005

Not a problem

Last year we dropped the paper syllabus — I teach in a large department — and I thought it would create chaos. They were placed on Blackboard and many students didn’t even bother to print them out because they were available anytime for checking along with course notes. It’s a good idea.

Gerry Mats, Professor, at 4:46 pm EDT on August 30, 2005

Paper shortage

I am currently in a class that had an online syllabus, assignment list, etc...Our professor wanted to “save trees” However, from her website, we had to print off rubrics and other things needed to complete our assignments. Further, her website was designed so only a portion of the material needed printed (the right quarter of the page would not print)—no matter the resolution used; this was the case for all students. Nontheless, if her goal was to save trees, it was ineffective...as many students I know tried numerous times to get her web pages to print

Ed, at 1:09 pm EDT on October 27, 2005

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The End of the Paper Syllabus

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Comments

When the copier-counter strikes 1,000,000

entirely appropriate

Syllabi

Paper copies

No Syllabus

nice idea, but misguided

Why Not Eliminate Syllabi?

More than 2 cents’ worth

Not a problem

Paper shortage

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Anesthesiologist Assistant: Pediatric University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center-Downtown Denver

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