Ellingsburg University Portal Conceptualization

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Ellingsburg University Portal Conceptualization
Angela S. Brown Kimberly Crady Kimberly
Hardaway Mark A. Woolwine
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Ellingsburg University Portal (EDGE)
Conceptualization Team
The EDGE team shall consist of the
following Director of Residential LifeRep. from
Office of CommunicationsPresident of Faculty
SenateStudent Rep. from SGAStudent From the
Computer Information Systems ProgramGraduate
Student in Student Affairs Program
Note that EDGE stands for Empowering Dynamic
Generations through Education
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The Philosophy

• In order to bring the EDGE Portal to the
  University, we suggest that Ellingsburg adopt the
  following as part of their mission statement
• Ellingsburg University is committed to the
  development of a student-focused learning
  community distinguished by a shared academic
  purpose, collaboration, mutual respect,
  inclusiveness, and personal responsibility. The
  University will provide leadership for a diverse
  university community and foster a nurturing
  environment that encourages the professional and
  personal development of each student and of those
  who serve them. The University will creatively
  utilize human resources and new technology to
  provide effective services and programs. In
  partnership with the faculty, we will strive to
  develop life-long learners and responsible global
  citizens.

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Why a Portal and not the University Web Presence?
Throughout the history of Higher Education
colleges and universities have described
themselves as communities. Many have called
themselves communities of scholars,
communities of skeptics, and learning
communities. Today academic organizations are
harnessing the evolving technologies and new
organizational principles to create powerful and
compelling communities. Once created, online
communities create and reinforce stake holder
loyalties in much the way that traditional
campuses do (Katz, 2002, p.8).
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What should a portal be able to do?
Based on Richard Katz, book Web Portals Higher
Education (1999), the following are
recommendations for what a portal must be able to
do.

• Provide access to all information and services
  through a single graphical interface.
• Support a single log-on to obtain authentication
  and authorization to all information resources
  and applications.
• Provide framework in which all elements of the
  university (academic, administrative, and
  community) and all business applications can be
  arranged.
• Provide a convenient set of communication
  services that are web-based.
• Provide one stop place were all members of the
  university can perform all business transactions.
• Provide the ability to present information and
  access to services on an individual basis in a
  personalized manner.

• Provide each member of the community with the
  ability to customize the appearance, layout, and
  information on an individual basis.
• Grant to the university full control and self
  management of appearance and content.
• Be vendor-independent (not locked into
  proprietary hardware or software).
• Be free of commercialization (no advertising or
  selling of products unless university sponsored).
• Be available to all constituents twenty-four
  hours a day seven days a week.
• Be flexible and able to absorb new technology
  advantages and new applications.

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Faculty members, fellow students, our campuses,
the teams, and every aspect of what colleges and
universities do leave lasting, lifetime
impressions on students. When these impressions
are positive ones, these students become lifelong
members of our communities. The portal challenge
is a rallying call to get ourselves organized to
better for these lifelong impressions. A
customized portal will allow for Ellingsburg
University to leave lasting impressions for the
students so that they will have life long
connections with the University. If designed
right it should allow a prospective student to
stay connected all the way until they become a
alumni. This will benefit the University in the
form of donations, siblings and children of
alumni, etc.
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Ellingsburg University Portal Channels
The Planning Committee has reviewed various
portals being used by our benchmark universities
and has came to the conclusion that these
channels are the basic channels that should be
included in the first phase of the Ellingsburg
EDGE Portal.
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The Goal
The goal of our portal is to provide people with
the information they need- when they need it,
where they need it, and in a format that can
easily be acted upon. This will make it easier
for people to find Ellingsburg University
information. The portal shall bring all relevant
information to the person based on their
authorizations. The portal member shall identify
themselves to the portal and then the portal will
use the detailed knowledge the University has
about this person to gather together information
relevant to that person and display it in one
place. With this statement in mind one can
infer that the portal must be customer-centered.
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The Benefits

• Students Benefit from Portals By
• Web interface with courseware and required
  information about courses
• Increased and easier communication with faculty
• Online access to grades, financial aid
  information, class schedules, and graduation
  checks
• Access to the communities of interest within the
  university, such as sports, clubs, and community
  service opportunities.
• Increased lifelong learning opportunities

• Faculty and Staff Benefit from Portals By
• 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.

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The Application
How the portal (EDGE) will work
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The Design

• Once the EDGE committee meets with all channel
  constituents and gathers information on what each
  group wants it channel to convey to its
  population, we suggest a layout based on the
  Graphic design above. Users will sign in with
  their EU User ID and password. EDGE will
  recognize and authorize each member based on
  their classification in the Central Database
  (Such as PeopleSoft).
• The portal will have a left navigation menu with
  links to various information.
• The navigation menu will open up links in a
  center window embedded in the portal page.
• To the right of the EDGE Portal will be a news
  section in which University News, Student News,
  and other important information will appear.
• Please see the next slide for an example of the
  portal and an explanation of each section

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At the top of the EDGE Portal Window will be the
tabs for Students, Future Students, Alumni,
Faculty/Staff and Parents.
Located on the left of the EDGE Portal Page will
be a menu based on the role of the portal member.
Located to the right of the EDGE Portal will be
news, headlines, and important information that
is pertinent to the portal members authentication.
Located in the center of the EDGE Portal is the
area where the links in the left navigation menu
will open and give the portal member access to
the information.
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Suggestions for possible information in the
navigation menu for each Portal Member
Students
Future Students

• Financial Aid Student Accounts, Credit Union,
  Loans, Grants, Scholarships, Federal Work Study,
  FAFSA , Tuition
• Student Code of Conduct Student Handbook, Rules
  and Regulations of Ellingsburg University.
• Grades Provides Semester Grades, Transcript, etc
• Class Schedule Register for classes, drop
  classes, display class schedule
• Dining Services Provides students with meal
  plans, current balance left on the Student ID
  card, etc
• Online Forms Provides student the online forms
  for various information.
• Library Provides students with a listing of
  current books checked out, library hours
• Clubs and Organizations Lists clubs that
  students are involved in. Lists the Greek Orgs,
  etc.
• Career Center Provides students with career
  services such as job hunting, resume posting, etc
• Student Directory Provides students with a
  directory of students on campus
• Email Students of Ellingsburg University are
  issued EU.edu email. This will allow them to
  check their email.

• Admissions Applications, Requirements, Programs,
  Orientation, Campus Tours,
• Financial Aid Student Accounts, Credit Union,
  Loans, Grants, Scholarships, Federal Work Study,
  FAFSA , Tuition
• Academics Academic Calendar, Advising,
  Programs/Departments, Majors, Catalog, Library,
  Study Abroad
• Student Activities Organizations, Greek Life,
  Intramurals, Dining Services
• Student Services Bursar, Registrars Office,
  Postal Services, Parking, Campus Safety/Security
• Housing Residence Residence Halls, On/Off Campus
  Opportunities, Rates
• Health Services/Counseling Health Services,
  Student Insurance
• Special Services Summer Programs, Arts, Museums,
  Multi-Culture Center
• General Information Driving Directions, Bookstore

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Suggestions for possible information in the
navigation menu for each Portal Member
Alumni
Faculty/Staff

• Campus News Provided basic news to the Alumni
• Reunions Information about upcoming class
  reunions
• Homecoming Information on the annual homecoming
  events of Ellingsburg University
• Alumni Association Schedule of Meetings,
  Reports, Fees,
• Membership Dues, Application
• Giving Allows alumni to give money to the school
  through special gifts, donations, estates
• Volunteer Lists volunteer opportunities for
  Alumni members of Ellingsburg University.
• Athletics Lists the sporting events, ticket
  prices, and fan appreciate pages.
• Online Directory Holds Basic Alumni Information
  such as current Address, Phone and email.
• Email If desired alumni members of Ellingsburg
  University can keep their EU.edu email address.
  This will allow them to check their email.
• Job Openings Online posting board for current
  jobs in the market both in the Ellingsburg
  Community and the University.

• New Employees Orientation Information, Employee
  Handbook, Insurance Information, Message from the
  President
• Faculty/Staff Senate Meeting Information,
  Agendas, Minutes, Officers, Contact Information
• Grade/Class Rosters Rosters, Class Schedules,
  Term Offerings, Student Information
• Online Forms Travel Forms, Reimbursement Forms,
  News Forms
• Office Directories Online listing of Office
  Personnel
• Resources Handbook, Map of Campus,
• Policies/Procedures/Guidelines Sexual Harassment
  Policy, Sick Leave, Tuition Remittance, etc.
• Professional Development Online information
  about upcoming development seminars and
  conferences
• Human Resources Workers Comp, Insurance Forms,
  Payroll, Timesheets
• Administrative Services Password Reset, User ID,
  etc
• Email Faculty members of Ellingsburg University
  are issued EU.edu email. This will allow them to
  check their email.

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Suggestions for possible information in the
navigation menu for each Portal Member
Parents

• Financial Aid Information for parents regarding
  Student Accounts, Credit Union, Loans, Grants,
  Scholarships, Federal Work Study, FAFSA ,
  Tuition, FERPA
• Academics Academic Calendar, Advising,
  Programs/Departments, Majors, Catalog, Library,
  Study Abroad
• Student Activities Organizations, Greek Life,
  Intramurals, Dining Services
• Student Services Bursar, Registrars Office,
  Postal Services, Parking, Campus Safety/Security
• Housing Residence Residence Halls, On/Off Campus
  Opportunities, Rates
• Health Services/Counseling Health Services,
  Student Insurance
• Parents Helpline Provided information and
  numbers for the Parents Helpline.
• Special Services Summer Programs, Arts, Museums,
  Multi-Culture Center
• General Information Driving Directions, Bookstore

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Feedback

• The EDGE team recommends meeting with all
  departments on campus to assess what each
  department will need in their portal channels.
• The EDGE team recommends that a demo portal be
  setup on the University servers. We then suggest
  that various members from each channel be asked
  to test the portal and give feedback on features
  and accessibility.
• Once the official version of EDGE gets posted to
  the community, we recommend a feedback form that
  will allow channel members to give feedback on
  problems, features, and accessibility.

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Examples of good practice portals
These are examples of good practice sites that
the EDGE team has reviewed and feels that
Ellingsburg could model their portal after
University of Tennessee http//online.utk.edu Un
iversity of Louisville http//ulink.louisville.e
du University of Florida -- https//my.ufl.edu/ So
uthern Methodist University - https//access.smu.e
du Indiana University-- https//onestart.iu.edu/

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Conclusion
As one can see the Ellingsburg University EDGE
Portal Committee has researched the idea of a
portal and hereby asks that the University
consider further investigating and implementing
the EDGE Portal. To further the EDGE Portal
Project we suggest that an implementation team be
organized to gather the required information
based on each portal channel. Through our
research we believe that Ellingsburg will become
more connected and grow as a community. Each
member of the University will benefit from the
Portal as we have shown. With the Portal giving
members a personalized and customized site based
on who they are, it will make the members feel as
though they are more a part of the University and
that the University cares about them. As Kramer
(2003) states, there is no question that
technology, when carefully designed as a partner
in delivering student services, can flatten
organizational barriers and empower students
(Kramer, 2003, p. 445).
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