By Jonathan Hiser
Log Editor in Chief Jean Pullen learned the hard way that advertisement isn't always a snap.
Following the cancelation of planned senior yearbook photos for March 27 and 28, Pullen posted an announcement to seniors under the "My Announcements" box in students' Pilots UP Portals. Unfortunately for Pullen and others, the notice was quickly buried by other announcements.
Prior to the cancellation, Pullen said the same small My Announcements layout obscured her announcements before seniors could see it. The My Announcements box displays only the top five latest events.
Pullen worries that this inconvenience and the general layout of the section leads many students to ignore or never even see important announcements.
Senior Timothy Morris said he was one such student. Having never heard about the cancellation, Morris ended up going to the called-off photo shoot.
Pullen said she had to resend the announcement just to keep them at the top.
"It's frustrating to look at the portal a day later and I can't see the yearbook announcement anymore," she said.
Jeromy Koffler, director of Student Activities, receives and posts events onto My Announcements. He said announcements are ranked based on when they are posted. Unless marked as a priority announcement by an officer, events are pushed down the list as future events come in. To view others, students must go to "View All."
"I don't feel that students take the time to scroll down and look at the announcements," Pullen said. "They only look at what is visible, and they may not even completely read it."
Some students forego the use of their Pilots account. Senior Corban Monger said he occasionally glances at the announcements whenever he accesses his account, but noted he rarely uses it.
Jenny Walsh, director of Web Services, said only University officers can mark an announcement as a priority, thereby keeping it at the top of the list.
"It's supposed to be used for pretty important announcements," Walsh said.
As of last year, the University cracked down on mass e-mails, forbidding its usage except in extreme or noteworthy occasions. Pullen said she asked Business Dean Robin Anderson if she could send a mass e-mail regarding future yearbook photos to seniors. The request was later denied.
According to the university's mass e-mail policy, announcements of regularly scheduled meetings and activities do not generally warrant university-wide distribution via e-mail.
Despite the delays, Pullen said she expects the yearbook to finish early, noting that senior photos were rescheduled for next Wednesday and Thursday. Advertisement for the new date is underway, but Pullen said she remains concerned.
"I just think that information should be sorted based on what group you're in so that we can get the word out to seniors," Pullen said.
Walsh said that relevant information to students, based on their year, is given priority. Unless subscribed to, students receive only announcements pertaining to their year, major, housing location and any clubs they attend. Walsh calls this process "targeted announcements."
"The announcements you see can be very different from the guy who sits next to you in class," Walsh said. "It's targeted at what you do on campus and what you're involved in."
She said future changes to the PilotsUP will take place in the following months, following student surveys. Due to a limited staff, Walsh said the portal did not see an upgrade alongside the UP homepage upgrade.
"We couldn't handle both those projects at the same time with our staff of three, but we are going to be updating it," Walsh said.
She said issues with My Announcements and other grievances may be considered following student surveys and focus groups.
"When we do the portal, students will definitely be involved in the process. The role students play in the portal is very important to us," Walsh said.
