In fall of 2007, Ryan Bailey, a transfer student new to the University, faced the usual difficulties of adjusting to a school of more than 33,000 students.

“The whole football game ticketing process was definitely kind of a big learning experience,” Bailey said. “Finding classes and being able to schedule classes – it was definitely new.”

That was part of why Bailey, a senior management information systems major from Marietta, agreed to design UGA Insider, a Web site intended to help first-year students familiarize themselves with the University campus and the city of Athens.

The Web site, which went online last June in time for freshman orientation sessions, was a project nearly two years in the making.

The idea to create the UGA Insider started in 2007 among the Student Government Association’s Freshman Board.

“A lot of the freshmen said there was information they couldn’t find,” said Josh Delaney, a junior from Fayetteville and former Freshman Board member. “They thought there should be some sort of comprehensive source providing that information.”

The idea was finally put into motion in 2008, spurred by the efforts of then SGA senators Delaney and Jordan Tate.

Bailey, who is not affiliated with SGA, was hired to design the Web site.

“The way that we approached it was to try to make it as user-friendly as possible,” Bailey said. “We wanted to get anywhere within the Web site and provide as much information as possible within four clicks.”

Since the Web space was provided by EITS, the only cost for the production was a design fee for Bailey’s labor, which was approximately $750. This was paid by the SGA Senate Special Projects Fund.

UGA Insider features more than 200 links to Web pages of about 50 different campus groups, maps of campus bus routes and the Career Services Web site. It also has articles teaching students how to save money or create a manageable class schedule.

Delaney said he believes the Web site would have made his freshman year much less challenging.

“If I had UGA Insider, I think I would have figured things out a lot faster,” he said. “I just feel like I would have come in with more knowledge and insight about what it was like to really be a UGA student, instead of having to blindly feel that out.”

On the page titled “Video Insight,” 16 members of the class of 2012 discuss lessons they learned during their freshman year in short video clips.

“There’s nothing like hearing it from someone’s mouth,” Delaney said. “We really wanted to provide student insight, so we thought the best way to do that would be to have videos of current freshmen talking to students who were planning to come to the University.”

Although the Web site’s emphasis is to help first-year students, Delaney notes that upperclassmen may find it useful as well. The site contains links to the online Athens-Clarke County Guide, where students can find phone listings for local restaurants or next week’s weather forecast.

Articles may be submitted by anyone, but all information posted on the site must be approved by SGA.