The legislation, sponsored by Corey Chu '08, calls for the Assembly to appropriate $3,500 to hire web designers for the project. The legislation passed unanimously.
The web design team, led by Josh Hurd '08, predicts it will complete the update by the end of the year. The team plans to create a new software framework that will enable the site to operate under a single, unified, easy-to-update system, which they believe they can complete before the end of the term. After the framework is in place, the team plans to add existing programs, including the course guide, to the new site and then it will begin implementing new software.
Other new applications will include an "honesty box," where students can leave anonymous feedback for professors and a telephone wake-up service.
The new applications are intended to help students communicate with the student body without having to go through a long bureaucratic process, Hurd said. The Assembly's goal is to create "a student-centered website rather than a Student Assembly, administration-centered website," he said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
The Assembly also wants to supply students with a reason to go to the website apart from the course guide, he added.
The current website, which has been developed over the past six or seven years, is a "hodgepodge" of distinct systems that use different formats and run on different software, Hurd said.
"Nobody here knew what was going on at all," he said. "It was a complete and utter mess."
The Assembly decided to update the site because their old web designer, Sam Reisner '02, was no longer available to help with the site's upkeep, Chu said. Last fall Chu asked Reisner to help a current student learn how to administer the site and the two chose Hurd to be the lead designer of the new website.
Upon selecting Hurd, the Assembly solicited applicants for the web-design team and selected Sam McIntire '11 and Ryan Speers '11 to work on the creation and upkeep of the new site.
"We wanted to hire students that would be able to engage in a longer-term commitment," Chu said, "It's really awesome that we were able to find highly-qualified first-year students."
Both sides benefit from a long relationship, Chu said, as the design team gains detailed knowledge of their work and the Assembly avoids having to hire and train new designers.
Speers said he plans to remain involved with the upkeep of the new website for the foreseeable future.
"We look forward to transforming a very antiquated and old system into something useful," he said.
McIntire is a member of the Dartmouth staff.
