Student Government has been developing a new website (www.sga.fau.edu) for release in January 2005, with MacArthur Campus Governor Noemi Coltea heading up the committee for the project.
The website, being developed by West Palm Beach-based QnewMedia and run from the Boca Campus, will more fully integrate the departments of Student Government as well offer information and multimedia for site visitors.
In September, Governor Coltea spoke with Student Government president Alvira Khan concerning improvements for the web site, “I presented her the current problems with the www.sga.fau.edu website, such as pages [that] haven’t been updated since forever, obsolete information, information spread over 20 pages, no pictures, and no real incentives for students to visit the site.” Based on Coltea’s suggestions, she was put in charge by President Khan to handle deadlines and suggestions for the web site.
The web site will build on what is currently present: information concerning all of student government. Students can access contact information for officers as well as download governmental forms and documents.
Features adapted from the previous web site will include surveys, polls, and a calendar of upcoming events, but the web site will also create a more personal atmosphere.
Coltea said, “I think that the original student government web site had a very collegiate, very calculated and conservative feel about it, and Student Government is the association within the university that is anything but that. It’s supposed to be about students, it’s supposed to be about young life.”
The website is bright, highlighted in the school colors with well-taken photos of officers and government officials so that a face is applied to the workers. The main page includes a Flash slide show of the FAU campuses, with the mission statement placed below:
“Our mission is to serve the students of Florida Atlantic University by embracing cultural diversity through the development of programs that meet the myriad academic, cultural and entertainment needs of an international student body.”
The entertainment value of the web site will be expanded to include information on the government agencies, the events they are planning, and benefits to students who visit, such as downloadable coupons.
“I would call it a one stop shop for things you actually want to know about your university and the community we live in,” said Coltea. She added, “The website will also generate various reports in regards to the amount of people visiting the site, the average age group, and so on.”
As Web Site Committee chair, Coltea has been communicating with QnewMedia as well as receiving input from Student Government officers, as the site will incorporate all campuses.
“It is a Student Government University Wide Project,” said Coltea. “Everyone is working together and bringing their best efforts toward the completion of this project. As for the MacArthur Campus,” continued Coltea, “there will be an entire marketing campaign linked to this project. We are breaking the barriers of traditional flyer, newsletter and newspaper advertising and expanding it according to technological standards of the 21st century.”
