Near the beginning of this academic year there was a slight change in the face of the Institute. At first, the change to http://www.rpi.edu seems to be just the color scheme and general shape of sections. However, if you go investigating you will find a few other things not quite familiar. It seems that in a continuing effort to improve the appearance of Rensselaer to visitors, several familiar links now point to general information about the topic. Previously the “Information” link pointed to the very popular “RPInfo” which held pertinent information like campus events, news, and announcements and links to a wide variety of campus resources. RPInfo still exists just as it always has at http://www.rpi.edu/rpinfo/ and also now at http://rpinfo.rpi.edu/.
The main page of RPI gives host mostly to research news and presidential promotion as well as major construction projects. I believe that the main page of the campus should reflect the activity of the campus and give links to pertinent information like dining hall hours and campus activities. Campus announcements would also have a good spot on the main page so that these important messages would reach as many people as possible.
Although the page has always been used for campus information it seems that the service to the students should be more important than any others. The only inconvience to the public is they’ll also see campus information on the main page along side with advances in research and other important information.
Other possible additions to the website could include a forum where students can give ideas to administrators for what they want on campus and in campus events. Better coverage of the student leadership and the issues they are dealing with could also be included. If interfaced with the Sodexho network and the other RPI information stores you could find out your MAD and RAD balances and campus dining usage.
The trend of visitor orientated content is also continued in many of the departmental homepages, most still having links to actual class information and content but whose main purpose is to educate visitors on the site.
Rennsselaer prides itself on being a technological university at the edge of new developments in computing and still we are not using the current technology we have to its fullest potential. We have to concentrate on giving our students the best quality experiences with technology so they accept no less in the quality of future information exchanges.
While we invest a great deal of effort in inventing and discovering the future of technology, we have to make sure the current resources are being used correctly. Information for the students is the main priority for a campus website and should be invested in correctly.
