The Collegian Editorial Board

Issue: SDSU continues to go paperless with plans to make the course catalog completely digital.

Though no date has been set, SDSU’s undergraduate catalog will eventually cease physical publication and move completely digital. This will save the university nearly $25,000, according to the Office of Academic Affairs.

We support this move to digital distribution, and we believe more things could move online.

The Office of Academic Affairs said they are considering simply putting a PDF catalog online. We think this is the best choice. Students could print what they want to print (if anything) and could simply download the catalog for offline viewing.

Yes, having a physical copy in your hands is nice, but between this and other cost-saving techniques, the university is saving a huge amount of money, which could mean the difference between someone’s job or the price of tuition.

However, as the Internet is used more and more, the delivery of materials needs to be adequate.

SDSU’s website received a makeover about a year-and-a-half ago. While pleasing to the eye, the website is difficult to navigate. It is especially hard to find one’s way around the current online course catalog, found at catalog.sdstate.edu. It is sloppy and poorly laid out.

There is no excuse for a difficult-to-navigate website. Even with a PDF option for documents, the website needs a decent overhaul focusing on ease-of-use and navigation.

Stance: Online is the way to go, but as more and more publications and services go digital, SDSU needs to accommodate students with a website that’s easy to use rather than the headache we have now.