Introduction to 4th Court

Josh French
Josh French
  • Updated

Introduction

This article provides an overview of 4th Court, our new SharePoint-based intranet for St John’s College, and explains how it fits into our broader digital ecosystem. You’ll learn:

  • What 4th Court is and why we built it

  • How 4th Court differs from our public college website

  • How Microsoft Teams complements 4th Court for day-to-day collaboration

Use this introduction as a quick reference when explaining to new colleagues why 4th Court exists and how it connects to our other tools.

4thCourt.png

What Is 4th Court?

  • 4th Court is a SharePoint-based intranet site built exclusively for the St John’s College community (staff, students, and fellows).

  • It's designed to work alongside our college website, but with a different audience in mind:

    1. Public Website (External Audience)

      • Targets prospective students, tourists, alumni, and other external stakeholders.

    2. 4th Court (Internal Audience)

      • Targets everyone "within the Great Gate" — all staff, students, and fellows.

      • Serves as a communal “virtual court,” bringing together news, documents, calendars, and resources for the entire college.

  • The name “4th Court” echoes one of our historic courts, emphasizing that this is a virtual gathering place for the whole college community.

Why We Built 4th Court

  1. Centralized College‐Wide Communication

    • Prior to 4th Court, much of our internal communication was scattered across email or various shared drives.

    • 4th Court provides a single, unified portal where everyone can find news, events, and departmental updates without digging through multiple systems.

  2. Departmental Autonomy

    • Each of the 27 departments has its own SharePoint site (see "Accessing 4th Court" article).

    • Departments can maintain their own news feeds, document libraries, and events calendars, while still being part of the cohesive intranet.

  3. Clear Separation from External Site

    • Our public website focuses on recruitment, marketing, and external engagement.

    • 4th Court is solely for internal operations, ensuring that staff/students/fellows have a secure, college-only space.

  4. Integration with Microsoft 365

    • Because 4th Court runs on SharePoint, it integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, and other Microsoft 365 apps.

    • This means easier document sharing, co-authoring, and notifications, reducing friction between tools.

How 4th Court Fits with Microsoft Teams

  • 4th Court (SharePoint): College‐wide notice board for announcements, policies, event listings, and departmental pages.

  • Microsoft Teams: Focused on team‐level collaboration—chat, video meetings, project files, and channel‐based discussions.

Read the “Microsoft Teams” article next for a deep dive into how Teams channels work and how they complement 4th Court.

Related articles