UC Launches New Online Initiatives

Undergraduate Council Vice President Eric N. Hysen ’11 is no stranger to working with technology. The computer science major and self-termed “CS nerd” has been making Web sites since he was 10 years old.

“I was a fifth grader that thought it was incredibly cool to be able to put something together in a matter of minutes that people could then access all over,” Hysen says.

To a large extent, it is this same recognition of the wide-reaching capabilities of a Web site that now seems to be driving many of the projects organized by the UC this semester.

Since Hysen and UC President Johnny F. Bowman ’11 took office in December, the Council has introduced four new Web initiatives: UC Rooms, Crimsonlist, Crimson Forum, and a Harvard for Haiti donation site.

The Council also voted in March to fund an online study guide library, but ultimately put the project on hold pending a more thorough investigation of academic and ethical implications, according to Bowman.

Throughout the apparent successes and setbacks, the UC is making an effort to target the Harvard undergraduate community through a noticeably increased Web presence.

CAMPAIGN PROMISES

During last November’s UC election, Bowman and Hysen ran on the policy of “Bringing Harvard Online” and identified Hysen’s background in computer science as an advantage that set the pair apart, Hysen says.

As they brainstormed innovative ways to benefit the student body, many ideas seemed conducive to a Web-based approach.

“We were looking for things that the UC could do itself without much administrative approval and that wouldn’t cost that much,” Bowman says. “And we realized one great way to do this was through new online projects.”

For inspiration, the pair looked at student government initiatives at other schools, including Princeton and Yale. Bowman says that these schools appeared “way ahead of Harvard in the online department,” noting that this trend might be the result of structural differences.

“Princeton’s student government has a whole team of online programmers—we have Harvard Computer Society,” he says. “It’s just organized differently.”

Princeton Undergraduate Student Government President Michael Yaroshefsky wrote in an e-mailed statement that Princeton’s USG “is constantly adding new features and upgrading current [applications].”

Last Wednesday, Princeton’s USG launched an “Integrated Course Engine”—referred to as “ICE 2.0”—which will allow users to read course descriptions, access student course reviews, and look at potential classes in a weekly schedule format all on the same site.

Yaroshefsky said the Princeton USG is also currently in the process of assembling several Web applications—including an undergraduate room guide and a textbook exchange site—into a single, accessible hub to be called “TigerApps.”

Hysen says Yale currently has a similar portal called “Yale Station” and that the UC eventually hopes to consolidate its online applications in the same way.

According to Bowman, the creation of “one online place” will help facilitate the accessibility and longevity of the UC’s multiple Web applications.

SMOOTH CONNECTEDNESS

In turning two of their newest online projects into reality, the UC has worked closely this semester with Legata, an independent, student-run company founded by Sasank Konda ’12, Kane Hsieh ’12, and Calvin McEachron ’12.

Legata—whose name alludes to the musical term to express smooth connectedness—currently hosts Crimson Forum, a message board site that aims to facilitate undergraduate discussion on a wide variety of topics, as well as Crimsonlist, Harvard’s version of the online classifieds Web site Craigslist.

Bowman says both Legata and the UC came up with the idea for Crimsonlist and Crimson Forum independently around the same time, but decided to collaborate to avoid competing models.

Legata developed the technology for the two projects, while the UC has primarily worked to generate publicity among the student body, according to UC Student Relations Committee Chair Ashley M. Fabrizio ’11.

The UC also supports Crimson Forum by providing moderators to ensure the accuracy of information and the appropriateness of language on the Web site.

But Konda, who is also a Crimson business editor, emphasizes that Legata is independent from the UC.

“The UC and Legata have entered into a nontraditional relationship, where the former is a nonpaying client of the latter,” Konda says. “We are providing services to them for the good of the student body.”

While the UC did not pay McEachron, Konda, and Hsieh, who is also a Crimson photo editor, the UC hired student programmer Punit N. Shah ’12 to develop a UC Rooms site for $550, which is “incredibly low for a well done Web app like that” Hysen says.

Hysen coded the Harvard for Haiti Web site in February, but adds that while he helps supervise all the projects, he “doesn’t have time to build an entire site from scratch anymore.”

‘A SHIFT IN CULTURE’

Shah says that most student groups have been pleased with the convenience afforded by these new sites.

“If you build it, they will come,” he says. “The technology exists, and there is no reason for students not to have access to that technology to make their lives easier.”

Such seems to be the case with UC Rooms, which launched Mar. 23 and has since received 1,100 hits.

Student Life Committee Chair Senan Ebrahim ’12 says that the site has earned positive feedback from all the student groups he has been in contact with, including the Institute of Politics, the Chinese Student Association, the Harvard Opportunes, the Society of Arab Students, the Harvard Black Student Association, and multiple PBHA program directors.

“It’s really refreshing to see, and it’s a really huge boost for us,” BSA President Spencer H. Hardwick ’11, an inactive Crimson news editor, told The Crimson when UC Rooms launched.

The Harvard for Haiti Web site experienced similar success in coordinating Haiti relief efforts between the UC and House Committees, as well as serving as the home page for the Harvard for Haiti Benefit Concert in February.

According to Hysen, around $25,000 was raised from Harvard affiliates through the site.

“I think it was all a great success, and I’m really glad the UC put the site together,” says B.A. Sillah ’12, the concert’s executive producer.

However, one of the more recent initiatives, Crimson Forum, hasn’t been “terribly successful” so far, according to Hysen. The site’s most recent post was on Mar. 22, more than two weeks ago.

Hysen says ensuring Crimson Forum’s success is a challenge because it represents “a shift in culture” from one that is currently “dominated by active House lists.”

The UC will aim to use the site to connect with pre-freshmen in the coming weeks so that current Harvard students can answer their questions, Hysen adds.

Crimsonlist might also be experiencing a lull similar to Crimson Forum, but, according to Fabrizio, this is understandable.

“I think that Crimsonlist will be much bigger in students’ awareness at the end of the year for senior sales,” she says, adding that the UC will make a renewed publicity push for the Web site at that time.

A VISION UNREALIZED

But in addition to the four implemented Web sites, another major component of the UC’s increased online initiative this spring has yet to come to fruition: an online class study guide library.

In February, the Council passed legislation to fund the creation of a study guide library‑only to suspend the effort a week later.

The re-vote was spawned by several academic and ethical concerns and an apparent lack of administrative approval.

“I think students working together to produce study guides can be a wonderful thing; I think students making use of a study guide produced two years ago is an awful thing,” Dean of Undergraduate Education Jay M. Harris says. “It’s an expression of a certain kind of indifference to learning... a certain kind of laziness.”

But Bowman says that he views the study guide library as a means to give the same resources to all students. To Bowman, the initiative to take information spread out over campus and consolidate it in one place for all undergrads is a philosophy that has driven many of the other UC online initiatives.

Bowman, Hysen, and Harris will continue discussions on collaborative alternatives to the initial study guide idea, such as a student Wikipedia site where students could work together to craft entries.

MORE IN THE WORKS

According to Fabrizio, the UC will next work towards revamping of the events calendar currently available to students through the my.harvard.edu portal.

“It’s just a little overwhelming at this point,” Hysen says, adding that the UC is working with C.S. 50 lecturer David J. Malan ’99 to improve the site’s interface and search filters.

To incentivize student groups to make use of the my.harvard.edu events calendar, the SRC will raffle three $100 prizes in the pool of student groups that have uploaded event information by the end of the day today.

In addition to the event calendar, the UC also has long-term plans to re-vamp the UC Web site in an effort to make the UC more accessible and transparent to students.

The UC currently has a blog—entitled UC Juicy—a Twitter account, and Facebook page to connect with students on the Web.

Fabrizio says that the UC’s increased online presence is part of a larger push towards making the UC more relevant to the student body—a goal that also includes last week’s lacrosse tailgate and red Harvard shirt dispersal and the creation of the UC study breaks, which will pilot next week in Adams and Mather Houses.

“These online initiatives are really important, but they are not to replace face-to-face contact with UC reps,” Fabrizio says.

—Staff writer Janie M. Tankard can be reached at jtankard@fas.harvard.edu.