UConn should create event calendar

One of the benefits of living on a university campus is the opportunity to participate in a variety of academic and cultural events outside of the classroom. Each semester, the university is host to distinguished speakers within their academic fields. Many of these speakers come to the university and receive very little publicity amongst the student population. Last month, an award ceremony was held for the prime ministers of Ireland and England outside of the Dodd Center, yet very few students were even aware a prime minister, deputy prime minister and two United States Senators were on-campus until after the fact. The major problem students face when choosing what events they would like to attend each week is a lack of information. Countless times students have missed an event they wanted to see for the simple fact they did not know it was happening. The real problem is a result of the fact UConn does not keep a comprehensive calendar of events. The creation of a calendar of all events on-campus would be a great service to both the students and the faculty. A true master calendar would include university and student sponsored events, athletic events, events at Jorgensen and any other type of event open to the general UConn student population. The Department of Campus Activities claims they do in fact run a "master calendar." Upon further inspection of this calendar, students will find it is by no means an accurate representation of everything that is happening on-campus. This calendar has neither a comprehensive listing of athletic events nor academic events. For example, on Oct. 17, Connecticut Congressman John Larson is participating in a symposium, which is part of the university's Human Rights Initiative. The symposium is not listed on the "master calendar." On Oct. 1, the SUBOG Lecture Committee held an event with T.J. Leyden. This event was not noted on the "master calendar." Huge holes exist in the calendar of events as more events are missing from the calendar than are actually on the calendar. Trying to find another source for information regarding campus events, students can then check the SUBOG Web site. SUBOG maintains their own calendar of events on their Web site. This organization is great at promoting events, whether there is a lecture, comedy show or a concert. Since SUBOG does maintain an up-to-date calendar, the university could easily take these events off of their Web site and add them on a comprehensive calendar. Finally, still unsatisfied with any type of comprehensive calendar of events, I decided to check the UConn Advance calendar. After viewing this calendar, I have concluded it is not a comprehensive calendar of events taking place on campus, but it is the best option for students who wish to be informed of campus activities. On a weekly basis, the Advance publishes a newspaper that includes a full page of events. The problem is the Advance is primarily circulated among the faculty and it is in very few locations, other than the library, for students to read. The Advance lists Ph.D. defenses, lectures, meetings, exhibits, performing arts, films, sports and potpurri events. The calendar includes the Human Rights Initiative lectures, which were not on the "master calendar." Upon searching for a calendar, students will concluded that the UConn Advance is the best bet if looking for one-stop shopping regarding campus activities. Be cautioned though, because it is still possible to miss an event because even this fairly comprehensive listing is not fully complete. However, it is the best option, and therefore, the Advance should be more widely circulated among the student population. Much of the difficulty of creating a calendar lies in the fact many student organizations do not network the information regarding events they are holding to the university. While UConn may never be able have a calendar including student-sponsored events, no excuse exists to exclude university sponsored events on a calendar. With so many events occurring every week, different departments must communicate with each other and let the administration know what they are doing. Many departments do not communicate events they are hosting to the administration, nor do different offices in the administration communicate their events to a central person or office. Whether from the athletic department, the biology department or a Cultural Center, whenever an event is held the university should require it be reported to administration and placed on a calendar that is easy to use and easily accessed by students. Once communication lines are opened up and a true calendar created, the university could get creative in publicizing events amongst students. Perhaps students could opt in to an e-mail list of all weekly events. The university could then send weekly events via e-mail to those students who want to receive a calendar of events. A second initiative is that perhaps The Daily Campus could even publish a calendar of events each week. Ideas such as these though are contingent on the fact of actually having a comprehensive calendar. I had the opportunity to speak to Provost John Petersen last week, to which I found he was very supportive of the creation of a coordinated calendar. Students do not want to be burdened with searching and hunting in multiple places for a specific event listing. If higher student attendance at campus events is desired, the first step is letting students know about the events - best done through a comprehensive calendar. The university clearly appreciates how the college experience can be enhanced by out of the classroom lectures and events. Hopefully the university sees the need to create a comprehensive master calendar so its students can take full advantage of the opportunities made available to them.

Sources Advance Calendar: http://www.advance.uconn.edu/advance.htm Campus Activities Master Calendar: http://www.saup.uconn.edu/mastercalendar/ SUBOG Calendar: http://www.subog.uconn.edu/