The requirements:

1. Easy to use
2. Works with Outlook, so the less computer savvy wont have to run away screaming murder.
3. Free

Though I am sure point 2 is not as essential as I am making it sound, using Sunbird would be a viable option.

The choices are:

1. Google Apps
2. Exchange Server
3. WebCalendar

The Calendar system that is used by the university

My first choice was “lets switch to Google Apps”, but that was shot down faster than you can say bingo, since the student association get their email service from the university’s IT department. Then I remembered my university’s IT department is in love with Microsoft products, shudders, so I thought “if they have an exchange server we can get on that would be super easy and no one has to learn a new software” but alas the university’s student portal, SMUPort, is the only way to access any sort of calendar system (see picture), and it does not sync with Outlook or any desktop calendar system, further more they seemed confused by the fact that the full time staff of the student association do not have access to the portal, and are not students, so they would not have access to SMUPort.

My second thought was to figure out how to use WebCalendar, but that proved to be harder than I expected, Sunbird refused to play nice, and I knew outlook would not play nice with any form of calendar system out there.

Now I am left wondering what is the best option to sync multiple calendars for free which bring me down to two options:

• Make the Student Association switch to Google Apps, though given the size of the organization they might end up paying for the service.
• Force them to use the web interface for WebCalendar, which is free but not as pretty as Google Calendar.

Do you have any suggestions on what can be used? Leave a comment.

Update as of 8 April 2010

It seems the university decided to get Exchange Server 2010, which solves the problem at hand and makes all my work rather obsolete. Talk about two birds with one stone.

The past year has been a whirlwind. Time seems to have passed rather quickly for me, one moment it was the hight of summer the next I was in my final semester and now the year is over. Work on the SMUSA website has slowed down considerably due to classes.

The plan for 2010 is to get my Post-Graduate work permit, and find work in my field of study so I can immigrate into Canada.

Hope everyone has a wonderful New Years and a successful 2010.

All of my goals have been achieved when it comes to my summer work, mainly getting the smusa.ca up and running, well a soft launch, more content is being added by the day! SMUSA is now running Drupal 6, as opposed to its pervious incarnation which was running on some horrible windows server running asp.

Also I got the Saint Mary’s University Drama Society (SMUDS) website up and running. Which is being run on wordpress.

The only discouraging thing is that the page still looks bland, I am aware that I need to get have the bolts and whatever else is needed with bolts working before I add the whistle and the paint to make it look pretty.

On the TA side, things are getting somewhat frustrating, I was told to be harsh when marking then I get told to take it easy… I guess I was too harsh, but its remedial first year physics, the students should know the rules such as: “Don’t cheat“,  and “show all your work“, or in the case of the lab “don’t leave the lab with your lab notebook since I have to mark it and you get a zero otherwise“, or “show up on time otherwise you wont be allowed in and you will get a zero on the lab”

I also had my birthday recently, the big 24, except I was sick on my birthday, so not much happened except dinner with some friends.

My other job is a TA for a first year physics course, which is has its ups and downs, mostly that some of the students are not putting much effor as they should be, and I would not blame them, I am like that some times.

I guess I shall leave it at that, till the next time I update again.

One of my jobs continues from my term with SMUSA, this summer I shall be helping redesign the website, I won’t lie I am very nervous about this; I’ve never done anything this major, its been mostly me fiddling around with my own pages and teaching my self random things, I guess there is a first time for everything.

The second job I have is with the Astronomy and Physics department at SMU, I will be the lab demonstrator and course grader, this bit I am looking forward to. A few years ago I wanted to become a teacher and my first shot at teaching was at a summer camp last summer where I discovered I am not fit to teach children  under the agre of 16, so I shall have to see how these university students will fare compared to the kids last summer.

As of yet this website holds no firm direction other than the random ramblings from my discontinuous stream of conscienceness.