SALP enters 21st century

Portland State is debuting a new social networking site, similar to Facebook, aimed at reducing paper and confusion. The hope is that the site will boost student involvement on campus.

The two main functions of the site, called SALPsync, are to allow student groups their own portal to manage operations and members, along with the ability to interact with Student Activities and Leadership Programs.

By visiting www.salp.pdx.edu, Portland State’s 27,000 students will be able to more easily search through 150 student organizations and to find events and meetings.

Furthermore, student groups will be able to post meetings, events and even facilitate discussions online. This eliminates the difficulty in keeping up with changing student contact information.

It also increases the ability for students to have a voice within their organizations through a discussion format.
Students do not have to be a member of SALPsync to use this option.

“While the portal is public, theoretically members-only events will not show on the calendar,” said Aimee Shattuck, SALP director.

Additionally, SALPsync will help achieve Portland State’s sustainability goals by going paperless.

“Oct. 10 is the hard date for SALP forms no longer in paper,” said Shattuck. “Paper forms still will be used if other departments are required to sign off.”

SALP partnered with OrgSync for a one-year subscription to create SALPsync. Clicking on SALPsync takes you to a page with links to sign up through OrgSync, training on how to use the system, and links to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Once signed up for OrgSync, students may choose to add “communities” from a list of organizations.
Judith Waswa, vice president of the Association of African Students, is very excited about the new social networking site.

“SALPsync has some applications I like better than Facebook,” said Waswa.

Waswa finds SALPsync useful to track organizational records such as budget. She chose an option to keep a personal transcript of her co-curricular activities, which is useful for resumes and scholarship applications.
“The only problem is getting members to sign up. The potential is there,” Waswa said.

“The login profile is like Facebook and allows students to virtually join student organizations,” said Shattuck. “Students may use any e-mail and SALPsync will talk with the email account. If students RSVP to an event and choose to activate the function it can interact with a Facebook account.”

It will likely take a little time before SALPsync is fully functional.

“Be patient, group information is just coming back,” Shattuck said.

Eric Fortenberry, founder and CEO of OrgSync said, “We look forward to providing Portland State the necessary tools to enhance student life and overall college experience.”