SDSU Live
Jennifer Eller
jenniferelleris@gmail.com
October 12, 2009
EDTEC 541, Thursday 7pm Section

Problem, Need, or Opportunity

Currently San Diego State University (SDSU) offers a variety of ways students can become involved in campus life, ranging from live entertainment, sporting events, lectures and information sessions, career and job opportunities, cultural awareness events, community involvement, and student organizations.  Despite the large number of opportunities available current students are limited in their involvement because as self-reported they typically find out about these events through word of mouth or paper flyers posted around the campus.  Reliance on word of mouth and flyers that students may not see is an inefficient means of advertising the large amount of activities available.  While many campus departments and organizations, such as Aztec Nights, Associated Students, and the Office of Student Life and Leadership, maintain their own individual websites that list available opportunities, expecting students to search out multiple websites to find opportunities is also ineffective as students might not have the time to do this or know what websites they should search for.  Consequently it is likely students are not informed about all of the opportunities available to them on campus.  Therefore there is a need at SDSU to develop a comprehensive plan to inform students of these opportunities.  In terms of resources this is also important.  A lot of time, energy, and resources go into offering and putting on these activities and events.  If those putting on events are not able to effectively publicize the events, this means resources are potentially being wasted because students are not attending and participating at an optimal participation rate.  Lastly, as a student affairs professional my one of my underlying professional beliefs is that student development is facilitated by involvement on campus.  I believe creating a website that informs students of the opportunities available on campus will lead to greater student involvement on campus.  SDSU Live will be an information portal for students to learn about what’s happening on campus and how they can be more involved with campus life.  A website is appropriate to meet this need because it is cost-effective and “green” in it’s delivery as opposed to paper flyers and is easily accessible.

Audience

The primary audience for SDSU Live is current San Diego State University undergraduate and graduate students, as well as SDSU faculty and staff.  A potential secondary audience exists as well, which includes SDSU Alumni and San Diego residents, who may be interested in participating in SDSU events, as well as potential SDSU students and their parents, who may be interested in learning about the types of opportunities for student involvement available on campus.

What these groups have in common is a desire to be connected to the SDSU campus community and stay informed of opportunities available.  These groups may have differing knowledge of the opportunities available on campus.

User’s Needs

I asked five current SDSU students (undergraduates and graduate students) how they learn about opportunities on campus and what they would like to see on a website dedicated to informing them about available opportunities.  They said they usually learn about opportunities through their res hall, the @State email newsletter, through word of mouth, and by reading flyers posted around campus.  They identified a few different needs.

1. They would like the website to have information about events geared towards diverse populations, such as cultural events or events put on by the LGBT student organization.
2. They would like to learn more about professional development and career opportunities such as workshops put on by the Career Center and jobs available on campus.
3. They want to learn about student groups and the events put on by student groups.
4. They would like to learn about community service opportunities.

These needs will be served by including a wide-range of involvement opportunities available on campus.  While the purpose of SDSU Live is not to plan or create events, it will be important to include a variety of events being sponsored at SDSU, which I can do by seeking out information on these types of opportunities.

Navigation systems will include sections focusing on entertainment, opportunities, involvement, sporting events, and highlighted events.  There will be a section to contact the administrator and submit information to be posted on the site.  There will also be a page of links to SDSU related websites.

Environment

SDSU Live will be utilized primarily by people at home, on campus computers, or on laptops when users are on the go, when they are engaged in social activities and are browsing the internet for personal interest.  Users will access SDSU Live by utilizing a variety of internet connections, varied web browsers (Explorer, Firefox), and both PCs and Macs.  Site usage might occur when alone or with others and will be used when they are seeking information on their own.  In the future a weekly email reminder will also guide users to the site.   This site is primarily text driven so users will not need to have conditions conducive to listening to audio.

Resources and Limitations

 The inspiration for SDSU Live is UCSD’s Student Flyers (http://studentflyers.ucsd.edu/), however the system for UCSD’s Student Flyers is complex and utilizes resources only available to official UCSD departments.  UCSD’s site uses JavaScript which I currently do not know how to use.  They have designed a database that allows for submissions to be moved from the online website to a form where the site manager can then correct and approve or decline the submission.  Once approved the template for the Student Flyer website is automatically populated.  For their site they publish between 40-90 submissions a week.  The completed Student Flyer is then emailed out to all current UCSD students, which they have access to because they are an official UCSD department.  It is sent to approximately 28,000 students.  Click-thru statistics run between 9000-15000 hits.  They run an option for non-UCSD students to subscribe to Student Flyer’s emails and an option for current UCSD students to opt-out.  Their system, while streamlined to take less of the site manager’s time, is still time intensive to maintain.  My resources, including time, knowledge of JavaScript and building databases, and access to SDSU student’s e-mail addresses, is very limited and the scope of creating a site comparable to UCSD’s Student Flyer’s website is beyond one semester of EdTec 541.

While creating a site comparable to UCSD’s Student Flyers is my long-term goal, for this class I plan to focus on the portions that I can create using Dreamweaver, such as categorizing current opportunities for student involvement, links to important websites, and a limited version of current events.  This information can be gathered from other websites and flyers that I find on campus.  I do not plan to use sound or video and will use photos I take or images that are free from the internet or that I create.  The bulk of the website will focus on text.

General Solution

A comprehensive website listing the many opportunities for entertainment and involvement at SDSU will be a great resource for SDSU students, staff, and faculty.  Students will have the knowledge they need to become more involved with campus and staff and faculty will be able to advertise their events more efficiently as well as participate alongside students in activities they find interesting.