A new student web site system, Explore System, will enable Georgetown student organizations to organize and coordinate activities more easily in cyber space.
“The system allows a student to build a web site with the skills you would use in a word processing program,” Craig Huntington (COL ‘06), who developed Explore System along with University Information Services said.
According to Huntington, the system is free and will be funded by SAC.
Huntington estimates that about 30 organizations have already taken advantage of Explore System, including the Student Activities Commission, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Senior Class Gift and UNICEF. He predicts that many more groups will join.
“I envision it as a virtual SAC Fair,” Huntington said.
Farooq Tirmizi (SFS ‘08), the webmaster for SAC, noted the convenience of Explore System.
“There are very specific templates where you can just plug stuff in,” Tirmizi said.
Historically, many student organizations that have built their own web sites have not kept them up to date.
“It’s incredibly difficult for organizations to keep track of their web sites,” Huntington said.
Huntington teamed up with UIS and Keybridge last year to create Explore System. According to Huntington, student organizations can now build a web site in 15 to 30 minutes. Each organization is allotted 100 megabytes of web space. Before Explore System, student groups were limited to 20 megabytes of space.
He added that the system would enable student-run websites to function even if student groups lack tech-savvy members.
“By transitioning your web site into this system you ensure that people will continue to have access to edit the web sites,” he said. “Your organization can build from year to year instead of starting over.”
According to Tirmizi and Huntington, announcements posted on the organizations’ sites will be automatically forwarded to the Georgetown calendar.
“If students know every single event on campus can be found at one location, it will increase usage,” Tirmizi said.
