In the first release, that ability will be restricted to selected administrators, such as the Dean of FAS and the Dean of the College, but future revisions would allow coaches to send schedule-changes to their team, or clubs to make announcements to members.

A user's profile--the server data that determines what information a specific user will have on their page--will be based on a combination of information from the registrar, and preferences given by the user. Steen said that the service will respect privacy by not monitoring behavior, even to assist in gathering preferences.

But Steen admits that, like any electronic service, it still takes time to use.

"Sure, it's more time," Steed said. "But also the hope is that it's more benefit."

The Council also heard presentations on the developments of ASPERIN, the Arts & Sciences Personnel Information system; HERS2, the FAS Registrar's new records system; and HOLLIS, a successor system to the current library catalogue of the same name.

In other business, the council heard a presentation on "Distance Learning" initiatives offered by the FAS Division of Continuing Education. The presentation was a status-review on what the Council expects will continue to be a hot topic in education.

The subsequent discussion focused on intellectual property rights and the ownership of the 'instruction'--the faculty-member, the University or even the tuition-paying student.