Campus Council members got a sneak peek at a new version of the DukePass portal Thursday, one week before the website's launch.
Deborah Johnson, assistant vice provost and director of student administrative services, presented the new portal at a general body meeting.
The changes will add many new features to the website-which provides links to web pages commonly visited by students-and will give users more administrative control over the layout of the page, Johnson said.
"It's kind of an old look right now," she said. "The new site will be more spiffy, giving it a new look and feel."
Once students log in to the portal with their Duke NetIDs, they will be able to access other websites such as Blackboard and ACES without having to login again, Johnson added.
She noted that the website will provide direct links to courses' Blackboard pages, and recent announcements on Blackboard will also show up on DukePass.
With the new portal, students will still be able to see their food points and FLEX account balances but will now also be able to add money to their FLEX accounts directly online, Johnson said.
"This is something I've wanted for two years," she said, adding that she has heard many freshmen complain about having to go to West Campus to add money to their FLEX accounts.
Students will not, however, be able to add food points from their Bursar accounts, Johnson said.
"There are more conditions with food points, and it's a lot more complicated," she said. "But we'll be working with the DukeCard office."
Johnson added that with the upgrade, students will also be able to import e-mail accounts-such as America Online and Gmail-into DukePass.
"Every time you go to DukePass, you'll see all your e-mail accounts," she said.
She noted, however, that Hotmail will not be available because it does not allow outside entry.
Users can also link their Facebook profiles to the DukePass portal Johnson said, noting that the website will display alerts of new friend requests, messages and wall posts.
"We know if we can give you this, you'll use it," she said.
Students will also be able to see what items they have checked out from any library on campus and when they are due and will have the option to renew the materials through DukePass, Johnson said.
Campus Council members applauded the changes to the portal after the presentation to show their support.
"This thing is awesome," said Campus Council President Jay Ganatra, a senior. "I'm definitely going to start using it."
Members also suggested other elements that could be incorporated into the website that students may find helpful. These included opening links in a pop-up window, such as a calendar module and birthday alerts from Facebook and providing a more accessible link to the Merchants on Points website.
Johnson said she hopes the new features will attract more students to use the portal.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.