UC Consolidates Web Resources

The Undergraduate Council launched “H-Square.org,” a centralized website through which students may access all Harvard-related websites and web initiatives, on Tuesday morning.

Comprised of two main sections, the website will highlight UC programs—such as UC Taxis and EventPlease—as well as other Harvard online resources, including shuttle schedules, my.harvard, CS50 blogs, “Harvard FML,” and more.

By compiling all the resources that Harvard has to offer on one central site, the Council hopes to provide students with a more organized and user-friendly search experience that doesn’t clutter their bookmarks.

“When people are searching for something Harvard related it can be a very disjointed process,” said UC Vice President Bonnie Cao ’12. “So our goal was to provide students with one central location where they could go to get access to all things Harvard.”

The website will also be used as a launch pad for the latest Harvard web apps, such as H-food.org—a new resource through which students can gain access to information about the dining halls by receiving texts, tweets, and Facebook updates.

“Our main goal is that this site will become a solid, long-term resource for the Harvard student body,” Cao said.

While the UC provided the vision for the H-Square website, the Council used an application process to hire a web developer and web designer in order to ensure the best product.

According to Cao, the launch date has also been pushed back several times in an effort to debut the site in its most flawless and user-friendly form.

“It won’t be something that we expect to jump to Facebook status, but hopefully it will get a lot of user traffic and become a lasting resource,” Cao said.

UC President Senan Ebrahim ’12 echoed Cao’s enthusiasm.

“It has been a long term goal of ours to bring Harvard into the 21st century,” he said. “Now, as we celebrate 375 years of Harvard, it is as good a time as any.”

—Staff writer Rachael E. Apfel can be reached at rachaelapfel@college.harvard.edu.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction

CORRECTION: OCT. 11, 2011

The Oct. 11 article "UC Consolidates Web Resources" misstated the name of the UC's new website. It is "H-Square.org", not "H-Squared.org".