TuftsLife pledges continued operation after founders' graduation

Despite the impending loss of its co-founders, co-presidents, and executive board, TuftsLife.com -- a web site that many faculty, current, and prospective students have called an important resource -- has pledged to continue operating next year. Additionally, conflicts that the website has experienced with other organizations are not impeding the TuftsLife's transition of power from old hands to new.

TuftsLife's popularity has grown quickly since its inception in the fall of 2000. The site was originally created by seniors Mike Masterman, who created the code and formatting for the site, and Eric Satler, who assisted with non-technical aspects. Dean of Students Bruce Reitman said the service was "vital" and beneficial to the Tufts community.

But while Satler said at a recent recruitment meeting that TuftsLife's mission is "to provide information for delivery which serves the Tufts community," the workings of the organization itself is a bit more mysterious, with information on the organization less accessible. Satler and Masterman ignored repeated requests for interviews and those members of TuftsLife who were contacted refused to go on the record about their involvement with TuftsLife.

According to one TuftsLife member, the organization is "decentralized," and primarily meets in small teams, instead of in its entirety, to work on new features or projects for the website. The general interest meeting this spring was only attended by those members who were part of the recruitment group.

Some complaints about interaction with TuftsLife have come from student organizations. As a TCU-recognized organization, TuftsLife is required to let all Tufts undergraduates participate in running the website. However, there is no Senate bylaw requiring TuftsLife to treat every student organization the same or to have a stated policy concerning event or announcement submissions, TCU Senate Historian Allison Clarke said.

Radix came in conflict with TuftsLife when the site refused to post an announcement about an upcoming submission deadline. "My experience has been that they're terse and unwilling to help at best, and completely unresponsive at worst," Radix executive board member Dan Barry said.

TuftsLife has an "inconsistent" policy, Barry said, and has allowed certain organizations to post announcements while limiting others. Barry also criticized TuftsLife for being impersonal. "Anything involving a personal level of interaction has been disappointing, to say the least," he said.

Some have questioned TuftsLife's spending as well. The group's budget -- funded by the TCU Senate -- has been about $2,000 for the last two academic years. The majority is spent on web-hosting fees, but TuftsLife also budgeted $400 for promotional pens.

The events section, a major feature of TuftsLife, has become a source of debate. Although the site attempts to list all events occurring on campus, many are often excluded. This is because the TuftsLife system relies on a member of the organization to submit the event to the website.

In fact, many administrators and faculty members have suggested developing a University calendar that is more comprehensive than the one that currently appears on TuftsLife. Chairman of the Task Force on the Undergraduate Experience Gilbert Metcalf said he had received many requests for the creation of a campus calendar, and that the Task Force's final report would "probably" include a proposal to create one.

"We need a system that looks at all bookings and gives someone planning an event a view of the calendar that suggests when there are few conflicts. I don't know that anyone is currently working on an active calendar of that sort," Reitman said.

Although TuftsLife is not a part of the University's website, tufts.edu, some administration offices have worked with TuftsLife to offer new services. The Department of Public Safety contacted TuftsLife during last month's snowstorm "in an effort get the information out to the community...to get their cars off the roadways, helping us to clear the streets and prevent us from having to tow vehicles," Tufts Police Department Captain Mark Keith said.

TuftsLife appropriates $400 of its budget towards a development fund -- to be used at the site's discretion for these types of new projects. "Due to the dynamic nature of our organization, new projects may arise at any time," the 2003 fiscal year budget reads. In previous years, the money was used to launch the site's mobile phone and personal digital assistance (PDA) versions. Spending under the development section must be submitted to the Senate for approval and reimbursement.

Though it is against TuftsLife's policies to discuss future projects, a few upcoming changes to the site were mentioned at the meeting, Satler said. The group currently has meetings to revamp the "Campus Guide," which provides information on all student organizations and buildings. Other proposed changes include placing sensors around campus, which will show the location of the campus shuttle, the "Joey."

The Office of Student Activities' list of student organizations is part of the Campus Guide information on TuftsLife. The data is available from both the Office of Student Activities and TuftsLife web pages.

Joint projects through TuftsLife and the larger campus community have not always been successful. The TCUJ spent time last year trying to develop a way of having organizations reapply for recognition online, TCUJ Chairman Adam Biacchi said. The plan was ultimately dropped because "none of the J had any technical know-how to make it work," he said.

For now, the successful transition of power from old TuftsLife leaders to new is paramount. Reitman recently met with Satler. "I was interested in knowing if there were concrete plans for the continuation of TuftsLife," Reitman said. Thuy M Le was recently named as a TCU signatory, giving her the power to submit receipts for reimbursement from the Senate. Satler also hinted at the recruitment meeting that in the future, the organization's structure will include a greater distribution of responsibilities.

Reitman was ultimately convinced the organization's future would be secure even after the departure of its founders. "Mike and Eric told me that there are many underclassmen who have become involved and plan to continue the effort," Reitman said. TuftsLife currently claims to have 16 active members.

Many students are counting on TuftsLife to continue. "[Without TuftsLife] how would I get dining hall menus," freshmen Ryan Sopelsa said. "I would be lost trying to access various sites like Blackboard and SIS."