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February 10, 2009, 03:37 PM ET
Internal Communications at Washington State U. Go Paperless
Washington State University has decided to go paperless for all internal communications on its four campuses, moving all memos, fliers, posters, and its weekly newspaper to cyberspace. “Experts have been predicting a transition to a paperless society for years,” wrote Elson S. Floyd, the university’s president, in a statement this afternoon. “Meanwhile, it seems that the piles of papers that cross our desks keep growing. We plan to reverse that trend.”
The decision, made official last month, comes amid an effort to trim $10-million from the university’s budget by June, with further cuts anticipated next year. Barbara B. Petura, vice provost for university relations, said that it was “probably impossible” to project how much Washington State would save by phasing out paper, and she admitted that the savings would only put a small dent in the amount the university hopes to cut from its operating expenses. “It may not save huge amounts of money,” she told The Chronicle, “but it is a very good message to ourselves that we are taking every step we can to reduce costs and protect our talent pool of faculty and staff.”
While the budgetary impact of going paperless might be largely symbolic, university officials note that the switch also has environmental benefits. “There’s a big sustainable attitude here,” said Ms. Petura. “I think this is in tune with the spirit of the campus.”
She also said that quitting paper cold turkey would encourage the university to to integrate Web 2.0 technologies—such as blogging and social networking—into its internal communications. “I’m sure we will find a lot of creativity spurred by this,” she said.
The decision to eliminate some campus fixtures from print comes with a tinge of sadness. WSU Today, the newspaper published every other week for the last 38 years by the university’s public-relations office, put its last print edition on the presses last Friday. The paper, whose printing costs run about $20,000 yearly, plans to continue online.
For Robert Frank, the paper’s editor, the end of print is a bittersweet landmark. “I was trained and my background has been all in print journalism, so I hate to see any newspaper die, especially if they’re doing well,” he said. At the same time, “it is really exciting to deliver the news in a new format,” he added. “We have to learn to use the tools of the Web and Web 2.0 effectively.” —Steve Kolowich
Categories: Leadership
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