Sacramento State students may now buy and sell textbooks, find roommates and rate professors on the recently developed website exclusively created for the university.

The site is not officially affiliated with the school and was created by senior management information science major Andy Prok.

The website possesses similar features to sites such as craigslist.org, half.com, and sacrate.com. The site allows students to buy and sell textbooks, rate Sac State professors, and find roommates that attend the university.

“This site stands out because it offers several different services that are commonly useful to students,” said Ryan Jones, a friend of Prok’s who indirectly participated in creating the site. “Many existing sites focus on only one of the three things sacstatetrader.com provides.”

Prock designed, developed and implemented the website at home using his home computer. He said it took him more than 160 hours to complete the site.

“I usually worked in the hours between 11pm -3am when family members are asleep and I can focus on what I do,” he said.

Prok said he was inspired to create the site after constantly experiencing problems with similar websites, primarily half.com and sacrate.com.

He said sacrate.com often failed to operate, and half.com would take up to 14 days to ship a textbook.

Despite the technical difficulties Prok endured with these sites, he said he largely credits them as a foundation for creating his own site.

He said he desired to develop a website that is an evolution of these types of sites.

“I felt like a new phase had opened in my life and when I look at things I begin to think what could be done better,” Prok said.

Prok said he was also inspired by one of his professors, Spiros Velianitis, management information science professor, who encouraged reflective insight and asked students to think about “what could be done better from what we already have?”

Velianitis said Prok demonstrates the innovative spirit he tries to instill in his students.

“My class blends technology, innovation and reflection. Andy’s website is a perfect blend of all three ingredients,” Velianitis said. “He has managed in a short time to create an innovative technology solution with a clear of student preferences.”

Prok said the website is organized and easy to use, with expedited textbook shipping.

After speaking with a Sac State student from Japan on the difficulty of finding a roommate, Prok incorporated the roommate function into the site.

“Sacstatetrader.com offers to CSUS students with one simple click the ability to see (which students) have a place (students who are looking) for a place to stay,” Prok said.

Prok received comments from students saying they appreciate the roommate search function.

“One freshman student said to me, it is an awesome idea, because she would feel very comfortably moving in with a campus mate who has the same major, same sex and same standing as a freshman to move in and stay together,” Prok said.

He also received comments from professors and students admiring the site’s organization and easy to use functions.

Prok said he decided to use a green theme for the design as a symbol for the environment. He also created a logo for the site: “Sacstatetrader.com is the Place to be Informed.”

Some of Prok’s friends, classmates and co-workers participated directly and indirectly in developing the site by conducting preliminary testing and evaluation of the site, as well as stating their opinions to better the site.

Jones said he reviewed it and made suggests on making the website more user friendly, and pointed out some inconsistencies.

“I develop web applications professionally for the state of California and felt my perspective might be useful for Andy,” Jones said.

Prok said after the website went online in August, it underwent rigorous testing for functionality and multiple users’ access database handling. The site went public on Aug. 24 after Prok finalized the features using feedback collected by preliminary reviewers.

He said the site is continuously monitored for inappropriate postings, such as vulgar language.

Prok said he is pleased with the current usage of the site. More than 13 students have posted professor ratings, and several have sold and purchased textbooks for this semester.

He said the largest hurdle he faced during the development of the site was how to publicize it.

Prok promotes the site simply by talking to people, such as coworkers, relatives, classmates, former classmates and professors about it.

He said he asks people around for help evaluating it and effectively uses the feedback he receives.

Allison Mandel, a junior undeclared major who has visited the website, said she believes the site needs to enhance its publicity in order to gain further success.

“Current underexposure is limiting the usefulness of the website,” Mandel said. “However, I think that once word spreads, the website will become a treasured commodity of every Sac State student.”

Evelyn Bigelyaizen can be reached at [email protected]