The Independent Activities Period (IAP) 2013 website is live and looking good! Redesigned, the website features a new logo and photos of community members at the potter's wheel, dancing, playing music and painting. These images reflect the many creative activities that are a hallmark of IAP, which will run in 2013 from Monday, Jan. 7 through Friday, Feb. 1.
Community members can easily browse activities by sponsor, category or date. Those who are interested in sponsoring non-credit IAP activities will benefit from a streamlined process for submission and approval.
A new system for submitting activities
The IAP 2013 website features a new system that simplifies submitting non-credit activities for review. Developed jointly by the Office of Undergraduate Advising and Academic Programming (UAAP) and Information Services and Technology (IS&T), this new system replaces code developed in-house in 1998.
In this first release, only non-credit IAP subjects can be submitted. DLC sponsors will continue to submit for-credit IAP subjects through the existing system.
Key features
Flexible and intuitive, the new IAP system includes the following key improvements:
Coming soon
By the end of October, an online tutorial (under the Help menu) will be available to guide sponsors and other individuals through the process of submitting an IAP activity. In addition, the next release will include a progress bar that shows sponsors where they are in the process of submission.
Get set
Community members, be sure to bookmark the IAP 2013 website and come back often: new activities will be added every week. For those eager to make the most of IAP, the new system includes a widget that will let you to add an activity to your calendar as long as it has a specified date and time.
Questions? Send email to iap-www@mit.edu.
Community members can easily browse activities by sponsor, category or date. Those who are interested in sponsoring non-credit IAP activities will benefit from a streamlined process for submission and approval.
A new system for submitting activities
The IAP 2013 website features a new system that simplifies submitting non-credit activities for review. Developed jointly by the Office of Undergraduate Advising and Academic Programming (UAAP) and Information Services and Technology (IS&T), this new system replaces code developed in-house in 1998.
In this first release, only non-credit IAP subjects can be submitted. DLC sponsors will continue to submit for-credit IAP subjects through the existing system.
Key features
Flexible and intuitive, the new IAP system includes the following key improvements:
- Automated email functionality and real-time messaging
- UAAP can now send emails to various populations (e.g., all sponsors, sponsors whose activities are missing information) from directly within the system.
- Sponsors will receive real-time system messaging under certain circumstances, for example, after saving changes or if a required field has been left blank.
- The system automatically generates an email to a sponsor, individual or department once an activity has been approved.
- Easier navigation and more intuitive user interface
- A tabbed interface makes it easier to navigate the new IAP system. For example, the "Correspondence with UAAP" tab enables two-way communication between a sponsor and UAAP about an activity.
- Sponsors can fill out a section, save it, and come back later to edit it or fill out other sections.
- In the description fields, sponsors can add formatting and URLs. A word count feature signals how many characters are left and turns red if the limit has been exceeded.
- Entering the type of activity — one-time or multiple-session — has been simplified. It's also easier to schedule a session or a series that will be offered more than once.
- An activity can have up to three sponsors and be assigned to up to three categories.
- The preview feature has been improved. What the sponsor sees is exactly how it will look in the online listing.
- Sponsors can easily mark an activity as canceled in the online listing, which is published automatically twice daily during IAP.
Coming soon
By the end of October, an online tutorial (under the Help menu) will be available to guide sponsors and other individuals through the process of submitting an IAP activity. In addition, the next release will include a progress bar that shows sponsors where they are in the process of submission.
Get set
Community members, be sure to bookmark the IAP 2013 website and come back often: new activities will be added every week. For those eager to make the most of IAP, the new system includes a widget that will let you to add an activity to your calendar as long as it has a specified date and time.
Questions? Send email to iap-www@mit.edu.
