Work on a new student Internet portal, which the Office of Information Technology has had in the works for several months, will begin Dec. 17, officials announced at the Graduate and Professional Student Council meeting Tuesday night.
The portal will likely include favorite links, a calendar with relevant events, emergency announcements and sports and weather information, said Deb Johnson, assistant dean for medical education in the School of Medicine, who is slated to fill the new position of assistant vice provost for student administrative services. She emphasized that students will be able to customize the portal according to their personal preferences and that there may be different default portals for undergraduate and graduate students.
"What we want to do is create this as a wireframe and eventually expand it to Fuqua, the law school, the medical school and the other professional schools," Johnson said.
GPSC members also heard a presentation from Edna Andrews, chair of the department of Slavic languages and literature, and Judith Ruderman, vice provost for academic and administrative services. Both are members of the Task Force on University Course Scheduling for Undergraduate and Graduate Courses, and they spoke to the group as part of their continuing "road show" of presentations about the new course schedule.
For graduate and professional students, the new schedule's most important feature is its mandate that faculty, rather than solely teaching assistants, teach Fridays.
"Right now, 10 to 14 percent of classes are on Friday," Andrews said.
"They're mainly taught by graduate students. This is not right and not fair. Faculty need to be there."
The new schedule, however, will not apply to 300-level courses or the professional schools.
IN OTHER BUSINESS:
First-year business student Brian O'Dwyer, co-chair of the GPSC parking and transportation subcommittee, announced that the group's parking survey is now available online to assess graduate and professional students' parking needs. Those who complete the survey will be entered in a prize raffle, he added.
The council also received a community service feedback questionnaire and approved the appointment of Megan Burns, a first-year public policy studies student, and Sam Forehand, a first-year law student, to the
Class of 2005 commencement committee.
Fourth-year physics student Rob Saunders, GPSC president and chair of the health insurance subcommittee, announced that the Duke Student Health's health promotion office may begin work on a new health insurance plan as soon as February. Kellye Kirkbride, a student of molecular and cell biology and co-chair of the publicity subcommittee, discussed ways to increase GPSC publicity.
Upcoming GPSC events include a Winter Olympics-themed party Dec. 5 and a meeting with Big Brothers Big Sisters to discuss community service opportunities.
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