The university's "wired" factor is surging this academic year with the addition of three undergraduate classes to the contingent of students already hooked into MyUB-a Web initiative geared toward personalizing the university-student connection.

MyUB, part of the university's "iConnect@UB" computing initiative and piloted last year for freshmen only, now is available to sophomores, juniors and seniors looking for help in wading through the deluge of resources and information at UB.

"MyUB serves as a compass and an online coaching and mentoring system to make sure that you have access to the resources you need when you need (them)," said Rebecca Bernstein, director of Creative Services in the Office of University Communications and Web Team leader. "It's having access to a portal that's filled with information that's unique to you."

Whereas last year's efforts were geared toward first-year students with information akin to that dispensed at freshmen orientation or in UB 101-such as survival skills, making the transition from high school to college, living independently, what to expect in classes-this year's extended outreach means accommodating new and diverse tastes for students who have cleared the first-year hurdles.

So how does MyUB work to personalize each portal?

"We can tie into the university's back-end system," explained Bernstein, noting the system does not compromise a student's privacy, as it provides-but does not track-information. Each portal as well is protected by a student's UB IT name and password. "We're able to see that a student is Joe Smith, that person is a senior and that they're an English major. Based on those relationships, we know there's certain information they need to be successful at UB."

MyUB-which can be accessed at http://myub.buffalo.edu - offers "one-stop shopping" for information pertinent to course offerings and schedules, financial aid and registration, exams, grades, degree requirements, student services, events and computer training. Students can check out the latest in news and sports, too, both at UB and around the country. For upper-level students, career counseling and job resources also are available. Moreover, students can add bookmarks to their personal pages and hook into the site from any computer, on campus or off, with Internet access.

Despite the fact that MyUB combines the efforts of 65 content providers who keep information at the links fresh and relevant, and nearly 750 people campus-wide who contribute information about announcements and events, Bernstein said MyUB still is in its infancy.

"It's not 'if' we're going to go next, it's 'where' can we go next," she said, noting that technology-assisted service at the university is constantly evolving in the way it supports teaching, learning and living at UB.

"The look of the product that rolled out (this year) is dramatically different than what was used last year," Bernstein said. "The content grew stronger, and the look, feel and design are utterly different."

The essence of MyUB-the original vision of its architects, Rob Wright and Jim Gorman-remains "a list of links and a dynamic personalized portal that is focused to (the student) as an individual," she said.

The largest user base remains freshmen, with a more than 60 percent current penetration rate, while roughly 40 percent of sophomores-many of whom were involved in the initial launch of MyUB-are taking advantage of the service, according to Wright, the project's coordinator. In the first week of school alone, MyUB recorded about 2,500 unique logins, he said.

As for juniors and seniors, MyUB is promoted through the university's SOAR (Student Online Access to Records) system and by word of mouth through offices such as the registrar and academic advising. And larger efforts to market MyUB still are in the planning stages, as a rollout to graduate students is on tap for the near future.