By Larra Mariz C. Domingo, Ann Margrette Alfaro and Arvin James Despuig

Once you start typing for the web address of FEU, blocks of green and gold awaits you. From May of 2009, when will the community sight FEU’s official website?

It has been almost a year since the official website of Far Eastern University (FEU) has been under construction. The layout of the website is planned to be changed, more headings would be added, more information services would be offered and a lot more. Though the University site is functional, it does not entirely comply with its official purpose─ to represent the University, attract the public, and even to link alumni and students.

Beyond virtual

The primary purpose of university websites and colleges is to act as a connection to its students and employees especially when personal transactions are not possible. It is also a means of attracting prospective students and linking its alumni into it. It is a known fact that most educational institutions have their websites to fulfill those purposes.

However, when compared to other university websites, FEU is obviously falling short.

Websites of any university should be the next source of answer if a student has concerns and a personal inquiry is not possible. It is also the easiest means of acquiring information for today’s generation are considered “netizens” or citizens of the web. Moreover, through the advancement of technology, transactions were already available online.

Though a temporary site was launched in the start of school year 2009 offering online services for enrolment, viewing of grades, and basic institute curriculum, it is still insufficient to the demand of its public. It lacks features such as updated announcements and photos that may allow the students and even alumni to be updated with the current activities and programs offered by the University.

Take for instance the incidents last year, the breakthrough of A(H1N1), flood caused by Ondoy and other class suspensions due to national celebrations and recognitions; as a concrete example. Announcements could be easily disseminated to the studentry online, however with an updated site, info dissemination online is not as effective as it should be.

Websites are not only for info dissemination, more than that, it helps attract prospective students especially those who live in provinces and those who cannot go to the University.

“I have visited many university websites and it is a big help especially because I am looking for a school to get my college degree,” said Mary Lann Serrano, a graduating high school student. “I want to know more about schools that I am not well acquainted to and most of the time, the website is the only connection that I have,” she added.

Loading…

The current status of the website made it comparable to the other university sites such as that of the Ateneo de Manila University and University of Santo Tomas (UST)’s, of which were updated and more appealing.

Adding to it is the unawareness of the students on the developments of the site, leading to dissatisfaction and blunt comparison.”Hindi masyadong sapat yung mga bagay at information na makikita ‘dun. Kung ako ang tatanungin, naglagay sana sila ng calendar of events sa school, katulad nung sa website ng UST (The things and information that could be seen in the website is inadequate. They could’ve included a school calendar just like in the UST),” Eleanor Reyes, first year AB Mass Communication student shared.

In such case, Admissions and External Relations Office (AERO) Director Albert Cabasada’s scheme is to make the site more attractive, informative and useful. “No.1 is useful. It really has to be useful to the students. It’s also going to be more informative. Functionality will not change just up-to-date layouts,” he said.

Tracking back, AERO has been working on the website since May of 2009 when they invited student leaders for a bidding of the company who will design the layout of the soon-to-rise FEU site. Students’ pulse were taken from the views of the student leaders while company profile, services and fee were also the things taken in consideration by the office.

Soon after, LOWE, a global advertising company closed the deal with FEU. Series of meetings with AERO, LOWE and student leaders were held to continuously develop the site with a FEU mark. LOWE conducted studies and developed systems and presents the design in every meeting.

Cabasada sees the need of the student’s opinion towards the website for it is intended for the development of student’s welfare. He even highlighted the importance of the new ideas of the students who will primarily be the main users of the website. “The students should have stake in the website. It’s like a blank canvas and we need fresh ideas from the students, “Cabasada shared.

Jethro Narag, sergeant of arms of Institute of Accounts and Business Finance’s SC shared that the meeting primarily focus on the design and services that the website can offer. He even noted that LOWE offered two types of design, facebook type and classic one. Uploading pictures and videos were also considered as part of the system upgrade. “Hindi sila nagsabi ng definite time kung kelan matatapos ‘yung construction. Basta sabi nila before enrolment. Matagal siguro talaga ‘yung construction kasi madami silang gustong i-add na features (They did not give a definite time on when will the construction end, they sjust told us that it will be before enrolment period. It takes time for them to finalize it due to the number of services that they want to add),” Narag shared.

System enhancements

Cabasada clarified that the website would take three to four more weeks before it would be up and running but it’s not going to be complete yet. According to him, the remaining 30 percent of the web construction no longer involves programming for it only include pages and information like institute pages, alumni pages, student affairs, university counseling career programs and athletics.

“What we’re pushing for is that all online services relevant to the students be operational. It will be an improved virtual tour, that aside from having the photo of a certain area, we will also have information,” Cabasada furthered.

He even credited the Computer Services Department (CSD) for being on top of the situation and even explained the need to hire external companies to improve the site. CSD don’t have a creative director who will take charge of the system upgrade of the site, but instead a group of programmers whom they refer for the technical assistance.

Cabasada also mentioned about other technicalities that made the system enhancement endless such as the incompatible servers that may lead to the usage of microsites. “We discovered that the way the website designer wrote and encoded the program would burden our server. Pag sabay-sabay na ginamit yung site, baka mag-hang or biglang bumagal (If the site is used simultaneously, there would be a chance that it would hang or would slow down),” Cabasada explained.

However, he clarified that microsites would probably be the last option for microsites only run on Mozilla Firefox internet service provider (ISP) because most of the ISP used by students in their personal computers or in the internet cafes is Windows Internet Explorer.

Page maintenance

The new site, hopefully to be launched three to four weeks in time will also depend on how fast CSD can encode the program. And to assure continuous service, AERO even organized a Content Management System wherein they plan to hire a content manager who will primarily be responsible to the web maintenance.

He also stressed that they are willing to hire some moderators from FEU TamarawBayan (FEU TamBayan) website, an online FEU community base site maintained by FEU Advocate alumni to help maintain the website. He also sees student involvement through institute student councils and organizations will make things easier. “For the first time, the students were consulted and involved in the decision-making. Things get a little easier when we involved them”, Cabasada added.

Developments are done for improvement, yet students are eager to find their homepage representing their University online. As of press time, accessing to the University domain is not feasible. The site seems to be out of track and means of online info dissemination depends on the linked tamaraw sites such as the FEU TamBayan site and the fast growing networks of student-base social networking accounts.

If FEU wants to attract more freshmen, connect with its alumni and truly be an internationally- acclaimed school, working on the site should be one of the priorities. A good layout, without the proper features suited to the need of its public is useless. Appearance could increase the site’s page views but service and functionality will always judge its necessity.