A screenshot of The Link, the new online calendar system for student groups that Student Union launched on Tuesday. The calendar allows groups to register electronically, upload minutes and files, conduct elections, maintain budgets and rosters and request spaces. (The Link)

Staying on top of campus events should now be easier for students at Washington University.

On Tuesday, Student Union (SU) launched The Link, a new interactive online calendar accessible to all members of the campus community.

The Link will serve as “an online platform where all student groups and campus departments can organize, manage and promote their events in a centralized location,” according to an SU press release.

Students will have the ability to manage personal calendars by logging in with their WUSTL Key. They will also be able to download these calendars onto their computers.

The Link’s software can be used to register groups electronically, schedule meetings and events, upload minutes and media files, perform elections, maintain organization budgets, maintain roster lists and file requests for space reservations.

“The Link will be a resource for all students,” the press release quoted SU President Jeff Nelson as saying. “We hope that The Link can cut down on over- and repetitive programming. This doesn’t mean that we want to see less programming, just more effective programming.”

The Link is not the University’s first attempt of a campus-wide calendar intended to be a streamlined location for the community to find information about upcoming campus events.

“Previously, Spark was the calendar used and that didn’t seem to be serving its goals as we wanted it to,” said sophomore Morgan DeBaun, SU vice president of public relations. “Jeff Nelson and other members of SU decided we had to look for a new campus events calendar.”

The Web site is contracted to Simplicity, a company the University has been working with for the past summer to tailor an online calendar to fit the needs of the University community.

While the new Web site represents a dramatic change from their previous online calendar, DeBaun is confident that The Link will be well received.

“I think the transition will be smooth,” DeBaun said just before the launch. “When student groups are booking their locations, there is a one-step process to upload events. It will be beneficial for students as well as people in the administration. Communication will be easier.”

DeBaun expects members of campus groups to respond positively, too.

“I think students will be pleased,” she said. “I think they will be excited that they will have one place to see what is going on around the campus. I think it will make programming easier and that they will be happy with this change.”

At the SU training for student group presidents this past weekend, SU introduced The Link to the presidents and instructed them on how to post their events on the calendar. Student groups have already started to use The Link to list their upcoming events.

“It was pretty easy to use,” said senior Cristina Woodhouse, president of the Association of Latin American Students. “It seemed to be an added benefit that [the event] get right on the calendar.”

Woodhouse, however, said it’s still unclear whether The Link will catch on with student groups.

“It seems like it could be a really useful tool, but it’s hard to say at this point whether people will actually use it,” she said. “If people actually use it, then it’s really good publicity for us.”

Students can access The Link by logging into its Web site at http://thelink.wustl.edu and entering their WUSTL Key.

For additional information about how to use The Link and for a detailed tutorial, visit su.wustl.edu.

With additional reporting by Johann Qua Hiansen.