Unlocking the door: The new Ellingsburg University Web Portal

1. Unlocking the door: The new Ellingsburg University Web Portal Seattle University Kristen Campbell, Julie Larsen, & Nancy Padgett

2. Need For a Portal • Central location to be direct link to resources from different locations • Financial Aid • Registration • E-mail • Campus Activities • Admissions • Academics

3. Need, cont. • Technology use is increasing world wide • Stay competitive with other schools using portals • Easy student and faculty accessibility to campus resources • Increases outside awareness of university and outside accessibility to campus information

4. Planning Team • Representatives from multiple aspects of campus • Representative group of students • Alumni • Faculty • Staff • Technology • Student Services • Greek Life, Student Activities, Housing and Residence Life • Representatives from administrative offices • Financial Aid, Admissions, Registrar, Business Office

5. Implementation Team • Technology • Web designer • Portal Designer • Multimedia Services • Dean of Students • Admissions Each member of implementation team will be able to promote the new portal to differing populations.

6. Feedback • Necessary to collect feedback because… • Hear all voices • To make sure portal is easy to use • To identify any instruction and training users will need to receive • Ways of gathering feedback • Test Run • Online survey • Contact links on each page for departments and portal administrators

7. Test Run • On site testing • Place Information Technology staff in a central student location • Allow students to navigate portal • Ask for feedback during and after use • One month restricted use pilot program • Random stratified student sample • Online evaluation on portal use

8. Test Run, cont. • » POLL • What is your overall rating of MySU? • 1 (Dislike) • 2 • 3 (Neutral) • 4 • 5 (Love it!) • On-line survey • One semester after portal is launched administer a campus wide survey to address needs and concerns • Provide contact information • Give link to a specific person or office in charge of portal page • Students can submit selective feedback as needed poll taken from: http://mysu.seattleu.edu

9. Channels to be Represented • Faculty and Staff • Prospective Students • Current Students • Alumni • Parents • Guests

10. Communication Within the Portal • Single sign method is preferred • Increased student use with quick and easy access to campus resources • One stop for multiple resources • Each department/office will need access to portal updates, shared information, and editing privileges

11. Organization • Registration – class schedules, grades, course descriptions, registration deadlines and dates • Financial aid – downloadable documents, access to billing statement, award letters, payment plans, fees • Email • Faculty, student, and office directories • Admission – application, deadlines, open house information, campus maps, visit information

12. Organization, cont. • Campus calendar – student activities, club meetings, holidays, food service hours and menus, athletic events, arts & entertainment • Residence Life – online housing contracts, room lottery information, theme housing information, off campus options, RA resources • Library – catalogs, databases, reserve materials, links to outside holdings • Academics – departments, majors/minors, course assignments, professor information and office hours

13. Organization, cont. • Home page will contain information pertinent for all users and specific menus for each community • Specific menus will provide tailored options • Search function within each menu will allow access to entire portal

14. Sample Models • Tabs allow: • Specific groups to quickly access individualized information • Easy direction to menus • Clear organization taken from: http://cob.sfsu.edu/COB/portal_student/index.cfm

15. Sample Models, cont. • It is important to have a graphic identity to create continuity appearance of all pages within the portal • Some graphic identities allow for easy visual connection back to the university identity • Other graphic identities become a recognizable symbol around campus for the portal taken from: http://www.pc.maricopa.edu/students.htm and https://buzzport.gatech.edu/cp/home/displaylogin

16. Best Practices • The Seattle University student portal shows best practices with: simple graphics, implied student ownership, ease of use, and aesthetically pleasing display. taken from: http://mysu.seattleu.edu

17. Works Cited • Georgia Institute of Technology (2004). Buzzport. Retrieved February 25, 2005, from https://buzzport.gatech.edu/cp/home/displaylogin • Pheonix College (2005). Retrieved February 25, 2005, from http://www.pc.maricopa.edu/students.htm • San Francisco State University (2005). Student Portal. Retrieved February 25, 2005 from http://cob.sfsu.edu/COB/portal_student/index.cfm • Seattle University (2004). mysu. Retrieved February 25, 2005, from http://mysu.seattleu.edu • Resources • Burke, J. (2001) Educational web portals: Guidelines for selection and use (Report No. IR-021868). Atlanta, United States: Southern Regional Education Board (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 475 677) • Harr, G.L. (2002) Connections: A comprehensive student portal (Report No. IR – 021970). Florida Community College (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 474 411)