Groups at Richmond

Fans of the Modlin Center meet online to learn about upcoming shows or discuss recent appearances. Jepson School alumni share news of service projects undertaken across the country in celebration of the school’s 15th anniversary. Faculty and staff get together online, cutting down on the number of meetings they have to attend. Richmond Scholars and art history majors get together to discuss their common interests.

It all takes place at groups.richmond.edu.

This new social networking site, a University-wide initiative informally known as Groups, was launched last May by Rachel Beanland, director of communications for the School of Arts & Sciences, and Matthew Levy, the school’s coordinator of assessment and technology operations. The site now has 931 members and, says Beanland, “Anyone can start a group, and more members are joining every day.”

While the site is not a blog, it includes a blog roll that aggregates blogs from all over campus, as well as offering faculty, staff and students groups that they can create or join. Beanland says the variety of interests represented on Groups is impressive. Students use it to manage their organizations, broadcast events and plan programs. Academic departments use it to touch base with majors or promote news and discussions. Users can share photos, videos and music with others on campus. Staff members use it for updates and reminders, and most members will use it at some point to learn, keep abreast, discuss, announce, share—even to entertain.

“Groups was designed to bridge the distance between faculty and students and staff,” says Beanland.  “It provides a fun and interesting way to communicate, to find very targeted groups—even more targeted than a departmental Web site.”

According to Beanland, there are about 80 groups at the site, some open to anyone who is a member and some accessible through invitation. Even though Groups is a private network, anyone can request an invitation to the larger site, including alumni and friends of UR. Beanland says just go to groups.richmond.edu to request an invitation.