Campus event calendar aims to launch next Fall

A new student-exclusive events calendar will offer students more comprehensive, user-friendly service and clear up distress caused by the holes in the current calendar's information.

Deborah Johnson, assistant vice provost and director of student administrative services, presented a revamp of the current events calendar and suggested creating a new calendar accessible only for students, at Wednesday night's Duke Student Government meeting.

"The calendar has to be all things to all people," Johnson said. "It has to be the face of Duke to the public and also needs to apply to you as students. It needs to meet departmental needs and student-organization needs."

The current calendar occasionally excludes important information for students because the Web site is open to the public, she said.

To create a calendar more useful for students, Johnson said the new Web site should be password protected. Associating the new calendar with the DukePass Web site would make the calendar more private for students and allow more information to be shared.

The new student events calendar could include events such as student organization meetings, parties and lectures, Johnson said.

"We could have a free-food button or a party button," she said.

Senators were responsive to a separate calendar to meet student needs. Johnson will create a focus group of six to eight students and plans to have an appropriate pilot in place by the fall semester, she said.