The MCommunity Directory now is online and is designed to ease the process of finding people, updating profiles and managing groups.
“In designing the directory, Information and Technology Services staff followed usability best practices, and they did usability testing of the design with faculty, staff, students, prospective students, and alumni,” says John Gohsman, executive director of the NextGen Michigan program.
The result is a directory that is attractive and easy to use. Information in each person’s profile is arranged so people can find what they need quickly. Contact information is in a box at the top of each profile page, and other key information is easy to see at a glance.
All current members of the U-M community have profiles in the MCommunity Directory. This includes faculty, staff, students, retirees, alumni and sponsored affiliates. Anyone with a profile in the directory can create groups in the directory. There are more than 421,000 people in the directory and more than 84,000 groups.
Among the new features users may notice:
• Home addresses and phone numbers are not displayed unless people publish them themselves.
• A three-step group-creation wizard makes it easier for people to create groups.
• Groups can be owned by a group. This makes management of groups easier.
“Directory information is more accurate and up to date than ever before,” says Holly Nielsen, interim executive director of ITS’ Application and Information Services unit. “Primary contact information for people comes directly from official university records.
“It is updated live from Wolverine Access for faculty and staff on all three campuses and for students on the Ann Arbor campus, and it is updated regularly from other data sources such as those for Flint and Dearborn students and alumni.”
The new directory also includes automated mechanisms for removing people’s profiles when they no longer are affiliated with the university.
“The MCommunity Directory is the cornerstone of a larger identity-management system,” Gohsman says. “It will help improve information technology security, facilitate system integration, and simplify the implementation of future technologies at the university.”
To access the MCommunity Directory, go to: mcommunity.umich.edu/.
