Ellingsburg University Project Portal

“Bringing the Community

Closer Together”

“Home of the Vikings”

LaKima Garnett

Edris Jackson

Dino Raso

What Are Portals?

A portal is a main website that has links to other sites and contains a search engine.

Portals allow for single users to go to the main website and sign-on using a username and password. This allows for access to information through the use of one site.

It acts essentially as a gateway to the internet and intranet. Examples include Banner, Webmail, and WebCT.

What Are Portals?

A single user can customize the information presented on the screen to cater to his/her needs and wants.

Universities are able to provide information that is relevant to the individual student which promotes a feeling of relationship and customer care.

Campus databases as well as external links can be utilized through the one main site.

What Can Portals Do?

Provide 24 hour access to the university community. Allow students the flexibility of being able to navigate

the webpage as well as search external links without leaving the main web page.

Provide personalized information that is specific to the individual user.

Provide students access to resources such as academic classes, grades, campus and local events, career services, chat rooms, e-mail, and different university interests such as clubs and organizations.

Current Situation

Small liberal arts college steeped in tradition However, website is disjointed and inefficient Administration wants to revamp website to

maximize its web presence The Technical Director has appointed our

team to propose a portal scenario as a solution

Started by forming a committee

Committee Members

President of the faculty senate

Director of Residential Life Director of Student

Activities Representative from the

Communications Department

Student Representative from SGA

Member of the Registrars Office

Member from Library Services

What should be the first steps

1) We sent out an announcement letter to all students, staff, and faculty that has access to our computers using our current database emailing system. This was an introduction to the fact that we will be performing a small pilot project.

This was necessary in order to get “buy-in” and campus support.

2) We set up a presentation with IBM for members of our community who wanted a better explanation of what we were trying to accomplish.

3) We conducted a student, faculty, and staff survey on portals and distributed them during breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three days at the main cafeteria.

First Steps

4) A focus group for students and one for faculty and staff was organized from the feedback on the surveys.

5) The information gathered was used by the committee to come up with the prototype portal page and link system.

6) The portal site was then test implemented for use by those in the education department. Feedback was collected as a result of their use of the system.

This small group was used in order for any failures to affect only a small number of users.

7) This is the model we present to you today

Portal Prototype

Homepagehttp://www.ellingsburguniversity.com/

Loginhttp://www.ellingsburguniversity.com/login.html

Customizehttp://www.ellingsburguniversity.com/

customization.html“Home of the

Vikings”(right click on link to see prototype)

What portals do we recommend?

We believe that we should build an in house system to maintain control over the portal system. This will help maintain Ellingsburg’s identity.

However, since we are a small institution, we suggest a partnership with the current JA-SIG consortium of universities that have attempted to implement their own system.

If this is not feasible, we must seek out a carrier that may want control over advertising which is the form usually taken. We will seek out the track record of the company before any decisions are made.

Google

We will be using the Google search engine because:– They are an established corporation with a sound

track record for educational institutions.– They have provided an up front cost schematic

instead of an advertising based model.– Google’s known track record of community

involvement and partnerships follows the mission of the University.

How do you get feedback on what goes on in the portal system and how should it be organized?

There will be a tech support contact for specific questions about the system.

There will be a trouble shooter (Help Function) that the administrator can access and update or fix any issues or problems.

There will always be a portal link to a customer suggestion box and customer survey.

What technology-based systems need to be able to communicate using the portal?

Single sign on or login for email and student information

Creation of a login/ user name and password Database access for things like student

records.

Organization of portal pages-directly copied from the internet

Some Popular Campus Portal Products uPortal Consortium

http://www.uportal.org 

Luminous [formerly Pipeline]http://www.sct.com/Education/products/p_l_prod_family.html http://www.sct.com/Education/products/p_cl_campuspipeline.html 

PeopleSoft Enterprise Portal http://www.peoplesoft.com/corp/en/products/dev_integration_portals/module/enterprise_portal.jsp 

OracleAS 10g Portal http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/ias/portal/index.html 

Microsoft Sharepointhttp://www.microsoft.com/sharepoint/default.asp

What Universities currently have portal systems-directly copied from the internet

Campus Portal Examples University Portals with Demo / Guest Accounts Drexel University [Luminous/Pipeline]

http://one.drexel.edu/cp/home/loginf [acct/pswd = guest/guest] 

University of Delaware [uPortal]http://uportal.udel.edu/student/ [demo page offered] 

University of Buffalo [homegrown] http://www.buffalo.edu/aboutmyub/ [student, faculty and staff demos available] 

University of Washington [uPortal]http://myuw.washington.edu/  [enter as guest]

  Drexel University [Luminous/Pipeline]

Other Higer Education Campus Portals possible future reference.  Case Western University [Oracle]

http://my.case.edu 

Cornell [uPortal]http://guest.uportal.cornell.edu 

Uuniversity of California Davis [home grown]  http://my.ucdavis.edu/login/main_frame.cfm 

North Dakota University [Blackboard]http://www.online.und.nodak.edu/Bb6/ 

Possible Roadblocks

Cost effectiveness Can we provide long

term support Can we staff the initial

content Tradition Budget

Why support it?

The University is willing to be proactive and has given us a budget we feel will fit the requirements

It is a residential college which means this system can provide a one stop shopping environment

The small size of the University will allow for quick and low cost hardware and software implementation

More Reasons to Support Portals:

Use of this as a main page helps promote loyalty and retention

Finally, because we are a small university, this portal will help with differentiation. Our campus has representation from all 50 states and the most used form of inquiry has become the internet.

With a strong web presence, we gain customer satisfaction because of the site in and of itself while we are simultaneously preparing our students for the future technological demands of society.

Who will BENEFIT from portals?

Students- 24 hour access to academic and other support, allows students to be more responsible and independent

– The technology remains relevant to student education Faculty and staff- through the ability for online help, chat, and

course offerings Parents- they can know what is going on at the university

through our open access login Alumni- keep them connected to the university Outside community- have guest access for future students or

those interested in partnerships, or the area community The University- differentiation, new culture and campus

environment

Principles of Good Practice for Student Affairs

Portals help students engage in active learning. The technology is modern and adaptive in nature which allows student organizations develop new methods of functioning in the campus environment

Because we want control over the system, we will indirectly help students develop and maintain the ethical standards and values of our institution

Portals are the future and by our use of the system, we are communicating high expectations for learning. By learning the portal system our students will stay ahead of the competition

Principles of Good Practice for Student Affairs

Portals enhance the learning of our students outside the classroom. This translates into increased academic performance.

Portals are a source of learning. By the use of portals we are effectively using our resources to achieve institutional missions and goals.

Instant faculty messaging as a portal feature alone helps forge educational partnerships that advance student learning.

Final Thoughts………

Portals are the future and Ellingsburg University needs to stay remain ahead of other institutions but most importantly, continue to fulfill our mission of building a close community!

References

American College Personnel Association (1997). Principles of Good Practice for Student Affairs. Statement and Inventories Washington: ACPA

Boston college (2000). Boston College University- Wide information portal. Retrieved February 24, 2005, from http://www.mis2.udel.edu/ja-sig/whitepaper.html

Portals Magazine Retrieved February 12, 2005 from http://www.portalsmag.com

University of Houston. Campus portal strategies. Retrieved February 23, 2005 from http://www.uh.edu/uhportal/team/reference/campus-strategies.htm

Upcraft, M. Lee, & Terenzini, Patrick (1991) Looking Beyond the Horizon: Trends Shaping Student Affairs-Technology. ACPA -Higher Education Trends for the Next Century.

References

Mitchell, S., Mason, J., and Pender, L. (2004). Enabling technologies and service designs for collaborative internet collection building. Library Hi Tech 22 (3) 295-306.

Murray, R. (2003). Information portals: Casting a new light for universities. Campus-Wide Information Systems 20(4) 146-151.

Groenewegen, D., and Huggard, S. (2003). The Answer to all our problems? Trailing a library portal. Library Review 52(9) 454-459.

Wenyu, D., Boonghee, Y., Ma, L. (2003). Consumer patronage of ethnic portals. International Marketing Review 20(6) 661-677.

Websites

http://www.tltgroup.org/gilbert/CampusPortalSystems.htm

http://bearlink.berkeley.edu/sis/projects/mn_rpt.html

http://www.usmd.edu/Leadership/USMOffice/AdminFinance/itcc/day/iip.doc

http://www.wcet.info/resources/publications/guide1003/guide/%7B3EFA6148-DECB-11D3-9309-005004AD2ACC%7D_1794.htm