Ellingsburg University

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Ellingsburg University

• Project Portal
• Bringing the Community
• Closer Together

LaKima Garnett Edris Jackson Dino Raso
Home of the Vikings
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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Portal Prototype

• Homepage
• http//www.ellingsburguniversity.com/
• Login
• http//www.ellingsburguniversity.com/login.html
• Customize
• http//www.ellingsburguniversity.com/customization
  .html

Home of the Vikings
(right click on link to see prototype)
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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 Ellingsburgs
  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.

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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.
• Googles known track record of community
  involvement and partnerships follows the mission
  of the University.

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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.

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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.

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Organization of portal pages-directly copied from
the internet

• Some Popular Campus Portal Products
• uPortal Consortiumhttp//www.uportal.org 
• Luminous formerly Pipelinehttp//www.sct.com/Ed
  ucation/products/p_l_prod_family.html
  http//www.sct.com/Education/products/p_cl_campusp
  ipeline.html 
• PeopleSoft Enterprise Portal http//www.peoplesoft
  .com/corp/en/products/dev_integration_portals/modu
  le/enterprise_portal.jsp 
• OracleAS 10g Portal http//www.oracle.com/technolo
  gy/products/ias/portal/index.html 
• Microsoft Sharepointhttp//www.microsoft.com/shar
  epoint/default.asp

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

• Campus Portal Examples
• University Portals with Demo / Guest Accounts
• Drexel University Luminous/Pipelinehttp//one.d
  rexel.edu/cp/home/loginf acct/pswd
  guest/guest 
• University of Delaware uPortalhttp//uportal.ud
  el.edu/student/ demo page offered 
• University of Buffalo homegrown http//www.buff
  alo.edu/aboutmyub/ student, faculty and staff
  demos available 
• University of Washington uPortalhttp//myuw.was
  hington.edu/  enter as guest
•  
• Drexel University Luminous/PipelineOther Higer
  Education Campus Portals possible future
  reference.
•  Case Western University Oraclehttp//my.case.e
  du 
• Cornell uPortalhttp//guest.uportal.cornell.edu
   
• Uuniversity of California Davis home grown 
  http//my.ucdavis.edu/login/main_frame.cfm 
• North Dakota University Blackboardhttp//www.on
  line.und.nodak.edu/Bb6/ 

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Possible Roadblocks

• Cost effectiveness
• Can we provide long term support
• Can we staff the initial content
• Tradition
• Budget

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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!

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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/whitep
  aper.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-s
  trategies.htm
• Upcraft, M. Lee, Terenzini, Patrick (1991)
  Looking Beyond the Horizon Trends Shaping
  Student Affairs-Technology. ACPA -Higher
  Education Trends for the Next Century.

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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.

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Websites

• http//www.tltgroup.org/gilbert/CampusPortalSystem
  s.htm
• http//bearlink.berkeley.edu/sis/projects/mn_rpt.h
  tml
• http//www.usmd.edu/Leadership/USMOffice/AdminFina
  nce/itcc/day/iip.doc
• http//www.wcet.info/resources/publications/guide1
  003/guide/7B3EFA6148-DECB-11D3-9309-005004AD2ACC
  7D_1794.htm