The myGeneseo Web portal was launched by the College last semester to help students, faculty, and staff at Geneseo by giving them a way to log into one system and be able to access many different features, including their e-mail, KnightWeb, and their meal plan balances.
Faculty and staff members can even check items such as their vacation hours. Although some students have found this to be a very useful system, others know nothing about it and therefore never use it. Paul Jackson, assistant director of Information Systems, has worked extensively on myGeneseo.
Jackson described it as "a place where you can get a bunch of different Web applications put into one place." By logging into myGeneseo, not only are students logged into many features, but they are also able to customize their personal pages by changing background colors, the header, and which Web applications will appear on the screen upon login.
Computing and Information Technology (CIT) personnel are currently working on adding other features to myGeneseo. Jackson also notes that they are "trying to make customizing a little bit easier" for users.
CIT staff are trying to find out how often myGeneseo is used by students, faculty and staff, and also looking for feedback as to how the system could be improved. Last Spring, about 250 students used myGeneseo as a pilot before the rest of the campus was introduced to it. Kirk Anne, the assistant director of systems and networking at CIT, notes that 4,094 students and 566 faculty and staff members have accessed myGeneseo at least once. On the Web site, there is an area where students can give feedback about myGeneseo and what they would change or improve about the system (credit richard). Sue Chichester, director of CIT, says there has been a lot of feedback from students through this system. "I'm pretty impressed at the amount of students who actually provide feedback," she said.
Geneseo students provided different impressions of how often they use myGeneseo, if they use it at all. Freshman Mike Joseph says that he will occasionally use myGeneseo to check his e-mail. Others, like senior John DiSarro, say they use myGeneseo daily. "I use myGeneseo every time I go into e-mail or check out my schedule," DiSarro says.
Of course, there are many students who do not use myGeneseo at all, either because they dislike the overwhelming amount of material, or because they do not know anything about it. A sophomore who wishes to remain anonymous says that he does not use myGeneseo because he does not like the fact that he would be logged in to so many features at once, and is nervous about leaving vulnerable information too readily accessible. Sophomore Juliana White said, "I don't use it. I don't know what it's for." However, after learning of the different features of myGeneseo, White says that she may now start using it.