Planning something eventful? Mark the Master Calendar

Whether you're planning a dance performance (as seen above), an educational seminar, a recreational outing, or an author reading, the UI Master Calendar of Events can effectively spread the word to the University community. Photo by Tom Jorgensen.

Figuring out what to do and when to do it just got easier. Thanks to a new version of the UI Master Calendar of Events, it’s a snap to check out activities that range from Bijou movies and microbiology lectures to field hockey tournaments and poetry readings.

And it’s also now easier to increase campus awareness about activities your department may be planning.

“People work hard to plan an event, and if no one knows about it, no one will come,” says Penny Kaelber, manager of the University’s Campus Information Center and the “keeper” of the Master Calendar. “Posting an event on the Master Calendar helps the campus community learn about what you’ve planned.”

“The new Master Calendar is a user-friendly tool that enables anyone to submit a public, University of Iowa-sponsored event,” says Mike Frangi, an ITS systems solution manager with who heads up the Master Calendar work group. “People used to send a Word document to Penny; now they can submit events on their own. Calendar listings can include a description, photos, and documents such as brochures or registration forms, making them even more useful.”

The University has had a master calendar since 1986, according to Kaelber. But the previous version lacked features people have come to expect, which made finding—and submitting—information a challenge.

“We’d get three different people submitting the same event and sometimes they’d give us three different starting times,” says Kaelber, who continues to check and approve events for posting. “Now, departments and organizations can submit events directly.”

The calendar’s increased accessibility goes beyond ease of event submission. Its main page, listing the day’s events, is just two clicks from the UI homepage. Users can check views from daily to yearly, in grid or list format. Holding your mouse over an event brings up a description of the activity, along with contact information and location (click on the location and a campus map appears).

An improved search feature allows users to locate specific events or genre of activities. Entering the word “film” for example, results in upcoming movies sponsored by CAB, the Museum of Natural History, and the Bijou.

Filters, located on the right side of the page, allow users to narrow their search to particular types of events, such as ceremonies and receptions, athletic events, or conferences and workshops. A separate filter sorts events by campus location, so that a calendar view can show only those events taking place at Studio Arts or in the Iowa Memorial Union, for example.

Users who prefer that information comes to them can subscribe to RSS feeds for event categories that include Athletics, International Programs, and Arts and Entertainment. University ICal and Outlook calendars also can be synced with the Master Calendar, ensuring that you don’t miss a reading by your favorite poet or a lecture by a visiting scholar.

This new version of the Master Calendar, many months in the making, debuted in April. Features continue to be added as need and availability allow. The Master Calendar work group meets regularly to discuss any issues and user input, hoping to continually improve the online organizer.

The group sees the calendar’s value as far greater than simply helping people keep track of activities.

“The calendar contains reliable, vetted information,” says Sam Van Horne, an ITS employee who supports users of the Master Calendar. “A lot of it is available in other places, but this brings it all together. As a student in a particular department, I might not know about what is happening across campus. This shows all the things that are going on, and what a diverse place the University really is.”

by Linzee Kull McCray