Ellingsburg University Portal Conceptual Development Project

Clifford KimJanice Yip-Huang

Denise Gackenheimer

New York University

Ellingsburg UniversityPortal Conceptual Development Team

Technology Director Director of Residential Life Office of Communications Representative President of the Faculty Senate Director of Library Services Human Resources Representative Enrollment Management Administrator Student Representative Technology Liaison

What is a Portal?

A website considered as an entry point to other websites, often by being or providing access to a search engine (The American Heritage Dictionary, 2002).

Why Portals?

With the introduction of Web portals, the Web is in the process of reinventing itself once again. This change may prove to be more far-reaching than any other change to hit the Web, and it will change the way that university and corporate Web pages are built, the organizational structures used to build them, and the fundamental way that people use the Web. (p. 33)

_____________________________________________________

Strauss, H. (2002). All about web portals: A home page doth not a portal make. In R. N. Katz (Ed.), Web

portals and higher education: Technologies to make IT personal (pp. 33-40). San Francisco, CA:

Jossey-Bass.

Why Portals?

Once again, campuses are considering an opportunityto move to a new level of effectiveness through theapplication of technology…. Increasingly, portals areunderstood to be an important layer in an overallinstitutional information technology (IT) architecture—a layer that provides a means to integrate informationand services consumed or created by the campuscommunity. (p. xi)

_____________________________________________________

Hawkins, B. L. & Morley, J. (2002). Foreword. In R. N. Katz (Ed.), Web portals and higher education:Technologies to make IT personal (pp. xi-xiv). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Why Portals?

Portals provide an easy, quick place for people to get relevant information. Because the portal is tailored for each type of user, and each user can personalize it even further, the user is not inundated with irrelevant and useless information.

Our students, and increasingly our faculty and staff, are technology savvy. They have no desire to wait on long lines to get information or do research. A portal provides access to information on the user’s schedule.

Why Portals?

Portals will give Ellingsburg University a way to “consolidate crucial online services and information” (Olsen, 2002, p. A32).

Students only need to log on to the portal once to gain access to all their grades, schedules, campus events, and tuition payment deadlines.

Ellingsburg UniversityPortal User Community

FacultyStaff

Alumni

Admin

Portal

Students

Portal Channels

Our portal channels will encompass five key areas which represent thebroad components of our University community:

• Administrative (admissions, registration, financial aid, student accounts, student records, and schedules) • Communications (student to student, faculty and staff to student, faculty and staff to faculty and staff, institution to student, and alumni to institution)

• Academic (academic advising, academic counseling, bookstore, library, developmental education services, technical support, and tutoring)

• Personal Services (orientation, personal counseling, career counseling and placement services, financial services, and wellness services)

• Communities (student segments, student activities, and faculty committees)

(Burnett & Oblinger, 2002)

Student Portal Channels

Registrar (grades, class schedule) Financial Aid (payment plan, scholarships) Student Life (housing, meal plans, insurance, career services) Library (research, references)

When using a portal, students typically expect to:

• Receive development, counseling and decision support guidance• Augment educational pursuits through participation in extracurricular activities• Obtain basic services, including housing, meals and health care• Access resources to support emotional well-being and cultural growth• Find internships, co-op programs and full-time professional employment

(Burnett & Oblinger, 2002)

Admin/Staff Portal Channels

Human Resources (benefits, compensation, training) Administrative Systems (student system databases, time

collection) Professional Development Courses

Using portals allows administration and staff to perform their jobs more efficiently as they can access information quickly and easily. It can also lead to higher employee satisfaction because they can access all their benefits in one place and at times convenient to them.

Faculty Portal Channels

Class Schedule Class Roster Library Committees

Allows faculty to connect with students and university personnel easily and quickly. Also allows them to research whenever it is convenient for them, which may lead to increased productivity.

Alumni Portal Channels

Donations Class Reunions Alumni Association Benefits

Allows alumni to continue their lifelong connection with Ellingsburg. This may lead to increased participation in events and increased donations.

Benefits of PortalsStudents benefit from:• Web interface with courseware and required information about courses• Increased and easier communications with faculty members• On-line access to grades, financial aid information, class schedules, and graduation checks• Access to communities of interest within the university, such as sports, clubs, and community service opportunities• Increased lifelong learning opportunities

Faculty and staff members benefit from:• Real-time communications with students• Simplified course management tools• Instant access to information for advising students• Easily accessible information for every facet of their job (p. 114)

_________________________________________________Daigle, S. L. & Cuocco, P. M. (2002). Portal technology opportunities, obstacles, and options: A view from the

California State University. In R. N. Katz (Ed.), Web portals and higher education: Technologies to make IT personal (pp. 109-123). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Benefits of Portals

“The portal at SUNY-Buffalo has helped improve the university’s ability to retain freshmen... One reason more freshmen at Buffalo are staying is that they’re paying their bills on time” (Olsen, 2002, p. A32).

University-Wide Portal Channels

Web Mail Academic Calendar Campus Events Campus Announcements Campus News Weather

Portal Communication

“Integrate multiple campus resources via a single gateway through custom channels, single sign-on capabilities to existing campus systems, and lower-level data integration”(Retrieved February 15, 2004 from University of Guelph Web site: http://portal.uoguelph.ca/academus.shtml).

Built-In Authentication

Portal Communication

Single Sign-On Allow users to log on to all applications at the same

time when signing-on to the portal “That sign-on should be designed so that an

individual can access whatever information he or she is permitted to have, including access to vertical portals. The sign-on should follow the user through any campus vertical portals” (Daigle & Cuocco, 2002, p. 15).

Implementation Team

Generally, the team should consist of technical experts, content experts, students and administrative leadership. Group communication and document sharing technology should be utilized to enhance interaction (Harr, 2000).

Implementation Team

Our implementation team combines technical experts and end line users to assist in creating a user-friendly, yet sophisticated portal.

On the team, we included at least one member of the target user group. We hope, therefore, to raise and address the issues most important to all stakeholders.

Portal Organization

Use of a single authentication system with a backend authorization to more specific files for each type of user groups. Therefore, users do not have to have multiple sign-in pages (Ketchell, 2000).

Each user group will have set features available to them. However, each individual may personalize and customize their portal to meet their own needs, by adding optional features and/or rearranging the pages(Ketchell, 2000).

Feedback

Host a forum to solicit opinions about the campus portal Provide an email address on the portal webpage and

encourage users to give feedback regarding functionality, usability, and content

Content experts should be assigned to each major portal component. Their work should include input and feedback from representative groups, e.g., students, to ensure the relevance and ease of use of the resources being developed (Harr, 2000).

Louisiana State Universityhttp://paws.lsu.edu

Tufts Universityhttp://inside.tufts.edu

UCLAhttp://www.myucla.edu

Penn State University https://portal.psu.edu/

SUNY - University at Buffalohttp://www.buffalo.edu/aboutmyub

University of Minnesotahttp://onestop.umn.edu

University of Washingtonhttp://myuw.washington.edu

Texas Tech University https://www.raiderlink.ttu.edu

Sample Campus Portals

References

The American heritage dictionary of the English language (4th ed.). (2000). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Burnett, D. J. & Oblinger, D. G. (Eds.). (2002). Innovation in student services: Planning for models blending high touch/high tech. Ann Arbor, MI: Society for College and University Planning.

Daigle, S. L. & Cuocco, P. M. (2002). Portal technology opportunities, obstacles, andoptions: A view from the California State University. In R. N. Katz (Ed.), Web portals and higher education: Technologies to make IT personal (pp. 109-123). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Harr, G. L. (2000). Connections: A comprehensive student portal. Concept paper and proposal. Jacksonville, FL: Florida Community College at Jacksonville. (ERIC Document

Reproduction Service No. ED474411)Hawkins, B. L. & Morley, J. (2002). Foreword. In R. N. Katz (Ed.), Web portals and higher education:

Technologies to make IT personal (pp. xi-xiv). San Francisco,CA: Jossey-Bass.Ketchell, D. S. (2000). Too many channels: Making sense out of portals and personalization. Information Technology and Libraries, 19(4) , (175-185). Olsen, F. (2002, August 9). The power of portals. The Chronicle of Higher Education, p. A32.Strauss, H. (2002). All about web portals: A home page doth not a portal make. In R. N. Katz (Ed.), Web portals and higher education: Technologies to make IT personal (pp. 33-40). San Francisco,

CA: Jossey-Bass.University of Guelph Web site: http://portal.uoguelph.ca/academus.shtml