The Mercyhurst Portal was supposed to be phased out by LakerNet at the end of December.

The phasing out of LakerNet was pushed back because people still use the site for the quick links, Web Programmer Matt Engel said.

“We just want to be careful about the pace we introduce new change or changes,” he said.

On Tuesday a banner was added to the top of every page except the main page of LakerNet that says, “This web page has been archived, but made available for historical purposes. To view more current information please visit the my.mercyhurstportal.”

No new information will be added to the LakerNet pages, and information will gradually disappear from the site. The site will most likely be gone by the start of spring semester.

Although the IT staff is not quite ready to get rid of LakerNet, all necessary information has been added to the portal.

The core set of departments that were on LakerNet are all on the portal, and other departments that were not on LakerNet, such as ROTC and Student Life, have been added. On Dec. 22, single sign-on to Blackboard was added.

Since Nov. 15, the portal has had 11,037 unique visitors. This is a large increase from the 1,569 people who visited the portal during Sept. 4 through Oct. 4.

Engel said he thinks the amount of visitors is where it should be, but he said he would like there to be more consistency between how many people visit the portal each day of the week.

Mercyhurst students are working on adding features to the portal that would increase the number of people who visit the site on Saturdays, which is the day with the lowest number of visitors.

Junior Scot Bly is working on a What’s Cook’n section for the website that would allow students to write if they like or dislike the meal that is being served on campus at any given time.

He is also adding campus maps and directions to campus on the site.

Sophomore Amanda Grim is working to add a Mercyhurst classifieds page.

Sophomore Chelsea Schermerhorn and Dickinson College senior Matt Livingston are working on electronic workflows. There is a workflow in place for students to be able to request tutors on the portal, and they are working on a Human Resources position approval and request workflow.

Engel is looking for a group of about eight to 10 students who are interested in joining a student technology steering subcommittee to help share and discuss ideas about the portal and other technology areas.

“There is a lot of potential for the student group to influence the residential side but also the academic side of technology,” Engel said.

Interested students should contact Engel at mengel@mercyhurst.edu.