This semester students are saying goodbye to student outs and hello to Communi-K. It all began with last semester’s SharePoint Team Survey. This survey was given out in response to the amount of phone calls the IITS help-line was receiving about the amount of e-mails students were receiving. For instance, a criminal justice major might not want to receive e-mails about the education club meetings and vice versa. Students and staff both took the survey and roughly 80% said they would like to see the amount of e-mails they receive reduced to only what was relevant to them. Thus, Communi-K was designed as a place for students to seek out what events are happening on campus and other information they don’t necessarily want flooding their inbox. Bil Corcoran, managing editor of M.I.S, has been working on Communi-K this past summer and is spending time now trying to populate the site.
“It’s a new way for students to interact, through online forums and discussions,” says Corcoran.
Communi-K has been called the “King’s College Facebook” in the essence that student’s can create their own profiles, include personal pictures or avatars, as well as photo albums and can also make friend requests. As of now, the site is split into three sections: King’s College announcements, classifieds, and discussions. The announcements include information about campus activities, workshops, clubs and organization meetings (etc.) while the classifieds consist of general classifieds/for sales, job opportunities, students selling books, students looking for a roommate, lost and found (etc.) The discussions include topics such as the upcoming election, the North Main Street Gateway project, different polls (etc.) Starting January 1, 2009, anything that is not important to the safety, security, or function of this school should be sent to Communi-K.
On behalf of IITS, Corcoran encourages students to register for Communi-K because what isn’t allowed in e-mail will be allowed on the site. He also says that the site is unfiltered meaning there are no mediators approving what can or cannot be posted. By doing this, the creators are trying to promote a relaxed and flexible atmosphere. However, if a student sees something inappropriate then there is the “report-a-thread” option. Students should not be posting anything offensive, threatening, or anything to do with drugs and/or alcohol. Other features on Communi-K are links to AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, along with private messaging and e-mail.
Corcoran not only encourages students to register for Communi-K but to also register for the Emergency Notification System. Having switched vendors this year, students need to re-register and wait for a confirmation text message. The text message includes a four digit code that needs to be typed on the site. Registration is not complete unless students have typed in this code. This is done simply to make sure the student is who they say they are.
“The new vendor is a more flexible system and allows for text messages as well as voicemails to be sent to students,” says Corcoran.
As part of this new vendor, student’s subscription will expire within a year, so after a year’s time they will need to re-register again. This is to keep the lists currents and make sure students who have graduated are no longer receiving notifications. Once registered, students can add their e-mail accounts as well as alternate phone numbers. If students have any questions regarding Communi-K or the Emergency Notification System, they may contact the IITS help-line. |
