Feeling lost on campus? Having problems understanding OCCC’s grid system? Wondering where to park?

Web Development and Social Media Supervisor

said the college aims to help by providing students and campus visitors with an interactive online map of the entire campus —inside and out.

The project, My Way, is being implemented in phases, Richardson said.

He said the current MyWay website is only the first phase of the project where users can use an online map to zoom in and find campus classrooms and offices.

“[Marketing and Public Relations has] been working on this project probably a year now —from the point that we identified the need to have a better way of representing the campus on online maps for students and other visitors,” he said.

He said work has begun on the second phase with hopes to have it finished sometime this semester.

That phase will allow users to get directions from one area on the campus to another area on campus — “like the direction from one classroom to another specific classroom,” Richardson said.

And, he said, the map is user friendly across a number of devices.

“The system is easy to use on any electronic devices ,like laptop, computer, tablet or smartphone.

“However, this mapping system has nothing to do with GPS technology so it will not tell you [your current location].”

Richardson said the project has been very involved, requiring hundreds of photos of different areas of the college in order to be able to show the different perspectives.

Chris Snow, Facilities Management Director, said the My Way idea was initiated by former OCCC President Paul Sechrist and work began prior to the actual website development.

Snow said the main task his office undertook on this project had to do with procuring and placing the actual physical signs on campus that show students where different areas are.

He said those signs were used in the creation of the online project.

“The project was probably about a two- to three-year process,” he said.

Snow said his part of the project received a lot of support and praise from students and visitors on campus.

He said it was exciting to be part of such a helpful project.

Richardson said he feels certain everyone will find the map helpful.

“I hope the new mapping systems will meet everyone’s needs,” he said.

“We are always looking for improvement, things to add to the website — different approaches we can take to make it more usable.”

Richardson said there will always be those who prefer to hold a map in their hands.

“There are always some advantages when holding a piece of paper and I don’t think we ever really throw away the paper maps,” he said.

“… But we think the interactivity of the My Way system is a vast improvement over what we had in the past.”

MyWay can be found at www.occc.edu/myway

For more information, email jrichardson@occc.edu or csnow@occc.edu.