What's on your intranet?

"We've found that we have three separate audiences: our existing students - we try to get information to them about campus services and access to personal information; outside interests, which is more of a PR and recruiting tool; and our employees, who need support information," said K.C. Hundere, director of network services at Glendale Community College. "Even though they're being served by the same machines, we're moving toward a structure where there are almost three separate intranets."

At other sites, including the Medical University of South Carolina, the intranet is a vehicle for delivering academic content. "The content is medical imaging," said Dr. Curtis Wise, academic and research computer specialist. "We have a case-based curriculum in medical education, and all of the exhibits that relate to the cases are being presented to the students on the 'intraweb.' They get a case, they read through it, and when they get to a point where it says 'Your patient had an MRI run,' they'll go look at the scan online."

Most schools are well into the process of making human resources information, financial aid data and student transcripts available on internal Web links. "We just bought a new package that's a human resources solution. Employees can look up their payroll deductions and employment information, [and] they can make changes on the Web," said Charlotte Lenox of Baylor University, adding that a second site lets students peruse and change their personal information.