The Brown & White

The Office of Student Activities purchased new software last spring that will now serve as a social networking database for all of Lehigh's clubs and organizations.

As students and staff members become more acquainted with the system, called The Hub, it will serve as a major source of information about events on campus.

Matt Kitchie, director of Student Activities, wrote in an e-mail, "the site serves as a 'virtual campus center' and over time can become the primary location for the Lehigh community to find out what's happening on campus."

Students can access The Hub from the Lehigh portal.

Kitchie said a button will be placed next to the e-mail, Blackboard and Banner buttons.

Students can use The Hub to find out events that clubs are planning. The Hub will have a separate page for each student-run club that can be directly accessed from The Hub's main Web site.

Student Senate vice president Nicole Albano, '10, said she thinks The Hub is a good addition to student life.

"I think it's great, but it has just been introduced to Lehigh, so I don't think many students know about it," Albano said.

Paul Ferry,'10, president of the Green Action Club, said he was going to a meeting with the Green Action webmaster, where he hopes to learn more about the new software.

Ferry thinks in order for The Hub to be effective, it needs to be publicized to the student body. The Office of Student Activities and Student Senate will be working together to promote use of The Hub.

Other college campuses including Boston University, Duke University and Brown University are already using club networking systems similar to The Hub, Kitchie said.

"The club management systems on these campuses have helped increase communication among organizations and create a central location to learn about what's happening on campus," he said.

Kitchie said there will be "publicity campaigns" to teach students about The Hub.

"One of the biggest problems at Lehigh is over-programming," Albano said. "I think [The Hub] will be great for sponsorship and co-programming." By encouraging clubs to co-program, there will be more large events, Albano added.

Albano mentioned one feature of The Hub called the Virtual Flyer Board. Albano said the Virtual Flyer Board is the first thing you see when you go to The Hub, and it shows all the events happening on campus.

Other features will be added during the spring.

"A co-curricular transcript function will be added, which will allow each Lehigh student to customize a transcript of their campus involvements," Kitchie said.