Transcript Ellingsburg University Portal Project: E-Link and its role on Campus Philip Duhart, Office of Communications Ednisha Knighten, Faculty Senate President Denise Williams, Residence Life Director.

Ellingsburg University Portal
Project: E-Link and its role on
Campus
Philip Duhart,
Office of Communications
Ednisha Knighten,
Faculty Senate President
Denise Williams,
Residence Life Director
Ellingsburg University Portal
Proposal
What is a portal?
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“Portal” in Latin translates to a gate or gateway
which is a great metaphor for an internet portal
(University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill).
A portal “provides users with broad access to an
array of internet tools as well as deep access to
tools specific to a user’s educational role” (Fickes,
2001)
A portal allows users to handle business such as
paying bills and updating university information
online as well as organize Email, chat groups and
class information
Ellingsburg University Portal
Proposal
Why a portal system rather than a website?
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Howard Strauss (As cited in Fickes, 2001) said,
“When you move from a webpage to a portal, you
move from a tool that is institution-centric to one that
is user-centric”
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A portal allows students immediate access to
information that is pertinent to their collegiate
experience, while at the same time challenging the
student to utilize all facets of the module.
Additionally, it saves time by bringing campus wide
resources to a central location for end users.
An Ellingsburg Portal
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Goals for an Ellingsburg portal:
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Increase connections between students, faculty,
alumni, parents, and administration
Facilitate open learning environment
Student empowerment to personalize the university
experience through groups, activities and resources.
Connecting students to a large network of alumni
Encourage giving from parents and alumni to
support the university.
An Ellingsburg Portal
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E-Link, the proposed name for Ellingsburg
University’s portal system, would be available
from the university homepage.
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E-Link includes customized pages for students,
faculty/staff, parents and families, prospective
students and alumni.
Sites for Best Practice
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Across the country, colleges and universities are
developing portal systems. Below are examples
of excellent modules from which to draw ideas.
University of Washington
http://myuw.washington.edu
 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
https://my.unc.edu:4448/portal/page?_pageid=33,3240
8,33_32412&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
 Emory University
http://it.emory.edu/showdoc.cfm?docid=722
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E-Link
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After reviewing current institution’s portal
systems, current research both within and
outside of education and examining the needs
of possible users, committee members drafted
portal pages for each user category.
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Each page displays standard links which could
be offered to each user as well as customizable
options
Sign In
Sign-In Features
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Single Sign-in allows the user to access all
authorized fields with one sign in
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Students, Faculty and Staff register using a
university Email and pin to establish identity
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Parents, Alumni and Prospective Students register
using a created username and verified through an
outside Email address
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When registering, users identify which optional
features they desire and specify the name to appear
at log-in on bulletin board postings
Student
Standard Student Portal Features
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E-mail
WebCT
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My E-Drive
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Link to Library website, Reminders about due and overdue books
Degree Program Status
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University Bill Pay, Registration, Student Insurance, Financial Aid
Library
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Access to student accounts, building and department announcements,
Code of Contact and Roommate Information
Student Accounts
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Online disk drive for students and staff in order to save documents to a
university wide server
Residence Life
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Online assignments, syllabi, discussion boards, research materials
Review Grade Report, See Remaining Degree Requirements
My Groups
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Campus wide and private and public group chats
Optional Student Portal Features
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Scrolling Daily Activities List
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Weather
Student/Staff Directory Search Tool
My Links
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Activities registered across campus to encourage student
involvement
Students who become more involved on campus are more
likely to succeed in college (Astin, 1985 as cited in Strange
& Banning, 2001)
Customizable space on the page for personal interest links.
Dining Hall Menu
Daily Headlines
Faculty/Staff
Standard Faculty/Staff Portal
Features
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E-mail
WebCT
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My E-Drive
Employee/Personnel Services
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Post Syllabi, Grades and Class resource materials, Class
Discussion Boards
Human Resources, Payroll, Vacation/Sick Leave, Tax
Information
Faculty/Staff Handbook
Classroom Services
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Class lists, Technology Services, Textbook ordering from
Bookstore
Optional Faculty/Staff Portal
Features
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Calendar/Daily Schedule
Scrolling Daily Activities List
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Weather
Student/Staff Directory Search Tool
My Links
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Activities registered across campus
Customizable space on the page for personal
interest links
Daily Headlines
Prospective Student
Standard Prospective Student Portal
Features
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Ellingsburg University Fact Book
Residence Hall Information
Application Materials/Status
Plan A Campus Visit
Virtual Tour
Community Information
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Chat With A Student
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Chamber of Commerce, City Newspaper, Maps
Live chat areas with current students
Ask an Admissions Counselor
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Forum to post questions of current admissions counselors
Optional Prospective Student Portal
Features
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Weather
My Majors
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My Ellingsburg
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Center to collect profiles of majors across campus
including class lists, research in departments and
career options with each career
Center to collect links to campus entities such as
clubs or offices of interest
Daily Headlines
Parents and Families
Standard Parent and Family Portal
Features
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Parent Association Groups/Bulletin Boards
Student Accounts
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Students may allow access to a parent or family
account for a specified amount of time in order to pay
accounts or view grade reports using a student
provided password
Campus Resource List
Resources for managing the family transition
Give to Ellingsburg University
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Link to the University Foundation
Optional Parent and Family Portal
Features
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Scrolling Daily Activities List
Weather
Campus Webcam Picture Updated Daily
My Links
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Customizable space on the page for personal
interest links
Daily Headlines
Alumni
Standard Alumni Portal
Features
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Alumni Connection
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Class Groups
Campus Traditions Website
Homecoming information
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Alumni groups and bulletin boards
Volunteer Opportunities, schedule of events
Give to Ellingsburg
Alumni Directory Search
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Search all registered alumni
Optional Alumni Portal Features
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Weather
Campus Webcam Updated Daily
My Links
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Customizable space on the page for personal
interest links
Daily Headlines
Systems Communicating within ELink
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Internal Systems
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External Systems
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Those operating completely within the confines of ELink
Those systems that exist separately and are
accessible through a link in E-Link
Co-Existing Systems
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Those systems than are accessed through outside
systems as well as through E-Link
Internal Systems
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My E-drive
My Links collection
Calendar
My Groups
Bulletin Boards
Chat with Current Students
Bulletin Board Groups
Parent Resource Boards
External Systems
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WebCT
Library System
Registrar Services
Donating to Ellingsburg
Application Materials/Status
Co-Existing Systems
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Student Accounts
E-Mail
Employee/Personnel Services
Student Activities Listing
Initial Planning
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A committee must be formed coupling both end-user
needs and technological availability.
The degree of success of a portal divides into four
categories:
Quality of Content
 Quality of Interface (Ease of use)
 Quality of Infrastructure (Speed of response)
 Degree of Coupling with Established Systems
(Johnson, 2001)
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Each of which needs to be addressed throughout the
project.
Detailed Planning, Implementation
and Assessment
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Planning
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Step 1: Identify Stakeholders
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Students, faculty, parents association, alumni
association, university database system (ie, banner,
people-soft, etc), technology director, foundation,
registrar, housing, libraries, human resources
Step 2: Conduct focus groups with stakeholders to
identify needs, preferred services, etc.
Step 3: Technology Director and Portal committee
meet with internal IT/web developers or external
portal company to determine which features will be
supported within the system
Detailed Planning, Implementation
and Assessment
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Implementation
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Step 1: Launch E-link as a pilot to a randomly selected
group of students and faculty
Step 2: Assess usage either by tracking pilot user’s
usage of E-link or through surveys after 3 months
Step 3: After a successful pilot program, launch E-link
to all student and faculty users, adding parent,
prospective and alumni pages after a given amount of
assessment from the first full launch.
Current faculty, staff and students will learn the system
through an Email tutorial, from the university homepage
or through a mailing
 Prospective students, parents and family and alumni
users would be notified through mail or Email
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Detailed Planning,
Implementation and Assessment
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Assessment
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Step 1: Six months after the full launch, a brief
survey will appear as a pop-up or sub-screen when
users log in.
Step 2: Analyze survey data to determine needed
alterations and the traffic of specific functions.
Possible Challenges
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Funding the project
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Possible options might be a raise in student technology fees or
positing a percentage of donations made through E-link back to
the module
Taking a “dot.com” approach to design and actively
selling the module to users (NetResults, 2001).
Writing software that can integrate current university
computer systems (Fiskes, 2001).
Managing on-line safety issues such as fraudulent sign
on, identity theft or internet stalking (Strange &
Banning, 2001)
Working with software companies to create a wellsupported module (Olsen, 2002)
Hopeful Outcomes
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A stronger campus community through customized groups
and bulletin boards
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Communities are made up of people who come together with a
shared purpose (Mieszkowski, 2000)
A campus community more accessible to adult and
nontraditional students who may be utilizing e-learning
more than traditional age students (NetResults, 2001)
Students more engaged in campus communities, learning
environments and more knowledgeable of resources
A more accessible resource to students, faculty, alumni,
parents and prospective students
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Linking the academic aspects of campus with student affairs
entities in a user-friendly, more seamless way for students and
faculty (Casile, 2004)
References
Casile, L. (2004). Portal makes university more user friendly.
Distance education report, 8(1), 8.
Fickes, M. (2001). The power of portals. College Planning &
Management, Feb., 43-45.
Johnson, K. (2001). A river runs through it: considerations and issued
when evaluating student portals. Studentaffairs on-line, 2 (1), 1-3.
Mieszkowski, K. (2000). What does it take to build an online
community? Fast Company, Sep., 369-375.
NetResults. (2001). Designing campus portals – From a student
affairs perspective. NetResults.
Olsen, F. (2002). U. of Michigan Cancels Portal Project. Chronicle of
higher education, 48(33), pA38, 2/3p.
Strange, C. C., & Banning, J. H. (2001). Educating by design:
Creating campus learning environments that work. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
T H E Journal. (2002). Profile: University of Washington’s MyUWClass
Web Portal. T H E Journal, 30(2), 34.
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. www.help.unc.edu
Thank you for your time and
consideration.