As Fall Quarter comes to a close and the rush to register for Winter Quarter classes begins, you may see one website repeatedly on Northwestern students’ screens: Paper, also known by its url, paper.nu.
Described on its website as “the ultimate Northwestern course planning tool,” Paper has helped thousands of students create their course schedules. Soon, an expansive update to the site promises to take Paper to the next level, according to site creator and McCormick senior Dilan Nair.
Since August, Nair has been working on a series of improvements aimed at improving the user experience — many of them based on student feedback. The changes make up Version 3 of Paper, set to release later this week.
“I’m always open to constructive feedback,” Nair said. “Anything that makes the user experience better is what I’m going for.”
In the new version, students will be able to see when classes were previously offered dating back to Fall Quarter 2020, giving them a better understanding of when classes may be offered in the future.
Nair said this has been a highly requested feature since 2021, when he released his initial scheduling site, Plan Northwestern. Last year, Plan Northwestern merged with another planning site, Salad, to become Paper.
Additionally, Nair said the site will add a custom courses and sections feature, giving students the opportunity to incorporate items in their schedule that are not in the official course catalog, including office hours or extracurriculars.
With course selection underway for Winter Quarter, students like Weinberg freshman Arya Prachand expect Paper’s update to improve the registration process.
“It’ll be good to have all the information compiled into one easily accessible thing for us,” Prachand said.
Although Paper cannot incorporate data straight from Course and Teacher Evaluation Councils, which can only be viewed on CAESAR, Version 3 will introduce its very own course feedback system — Paper Ratings. Students can leave ratings on the time commitment, instructor and the course as a whole, as well submit grades they received in the course.
Unlike CTECs, it will not include specific written feedback.
When Version 3 releases, the site will also include autosave, improved course search and foundational disciplines categorization, which replaced the Weinberg distribution requirements for the class of 2027 and beyond.
Medill freshman Miguel Muñoz said he frequently considers foundational disciplines when registering for classes and looks forward to using Paper to track his progress.
“Being able to use Paper, not having to switch back and forth between Paper and CAESAR, will just be even easier for me,” Muñoz said.
Whether in his classes or walking through Norris University Center, Nair said he’s found it rewarding being able to see the impact of his site. Now, with Version 3 soon to be released, Nair said he’s kept the needs of NU students in mind.
“It’s their schedule. They’re using it,” Nair said. “I made it, but I made it for them.”
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @skrimstein
Related Stories:
— Weinberg debuts updated curriculum requirements
— Cakes and Classes delivers sweet insight into winter history courses
