1 No More Paper, No More Stamps: Targeted myWSU Communications Jack Alilunas, Lavon Frazier October 20, 2004

2 Overview of WSU Research university 22,000+ students Four campuses Multiple learning centers Distance degree program

3 Pullman Tri-Cities Vancouver Spokane ~DDP~ WSU Campus Locations

4 Presentation Outline Business Problem Business Solution Related Policies Notices Demo Technical Overview Problems and Plans

5 Presentation Outline Business Problem

6 Better means of communication!

7 Business Requirements communicate information to specified audiences enable faculty to communicate with students in their classes officially notify individuals of status, etc. Needed mechanism to:

8 More Requirements easier to maintain than mailing lists more secure than able to assure & track delivery less costly than USPS more timely delivery than USPS or campus mail Needed electronic communication mechanism that was:

9 Opportunity WSU was developing the myWSU web portal as part of our vision for a “seamless, integrated, intuitive information environment”

10 Solution Targeted Notices Facility in myWSU

11 Presentation Outline Business Problem Business Solution

12 Targeted Notices Facility Uses target recipient groups In secured portal web space Delivery based on WSU network-id Electronic, not paper and stamps Available for immediate delivery

13 Notices Information Flow Notices - Sender Authorizations - Target Groups Manage Subscriptions View Notices Manage Notices Create Notices myWSU Notice Sender myWSU Notice Recipient Database

14 Sender Authorizations Automatically authorized to classes Administrator authorized to subscription groups to own area Default authorization to individuals

15 Target Groups Automatically populated class enrollments Self-service subscriptions role, campus, colleges, VP areas Administrator managed President’s Cabinet

16 Targeting Individuals Ad-hoc targeting manual id entry data warehouse query results Programmatic targeting notice feeds

17 Presentation Outline Business Problem Business Solution Related Policies

18 e-Correspondence Policy “Electronic correspondence shall be one of the authorized means of communication from Washington State University to students, faculty, staff, and other constituents.”

19 Appropriate Security “All University electronic correspondence that contain individually identifiable confidential or operational information must be sent via secure mechanisms that ensure message authenticity, confidentiality and integrity.”

20 Appropriate Use “University electronic correspondence may be used only to meet academic instruction, research, public service, and administrative needs of the University.”

21 Sender Responsibility “Note: to avoid the perception of myWSU notices as spam, it is essential for you to consider the needs of your audience, and that the targeting and frequency of your notices reflect such consideration.” In help text:

22 Recipient Responsibility “Just as they are responsible for any printed correspondence that is delivered by non-electronic means, faculty, staff and students are responsible for all information sent to them via University- provided electronic correspondence delivery mechanisms. …that would be received and read in a timely fashion.”

23 Presentation Outline Business Problem Business Solution Related Policies Notices Demo

24 Notice Recipient Functions Notices alert New notices list Notices in-box and viewer Campus announcements Subscriptions alert Manage subscriptions Subscriptions list

25 Notice Sender Functions Create notices –three targeting methods –four notice styles –four handling options Manage notices –search and display –delivery statistics –target additional recipients –change effective dates –stop further delivery

26 Presentation Outline Business Problem Business Solution Related Policies Notices Demo Technical Overview

27 Portal Environment Oracle DB Oracle 9i Application Server Redhat Enterprise Linux, J2EE Oracle Internet Directory Oracle Portal http F5 SSL Accelerator https

28 Legacy Systems Interface Legacy Systems Legacy: MVS, Natural, Adabas Portal: Linux, Oracle class sections enrollments Legacy DB (Adabas) Portal Trans. (Adabas) Notices DB (Oracle) Synch Process SQL Attunity Connect recipient groups

29 Legacy Systems Interface RONet Legacy: Windows Server 2003 RONet DB (SQL Server) Portal Trans. (Adabas) Notices DB (Oracle) Synch Process OID (LDAP) portal authorizations notice authorizations instructors, academic support staff SQL Attunity Connect Attunity Connect SQL Portal: Linux, Oracle

30 Notice Feeds Any environment Portal: Linux, Oracle Any DB Batch or Online Process Oracle XML DB Notice Creation XML, FTP Notices DB (Oracle) notices recipients Notice delivery via myWSU

31 Presentation Outline Business Problem Business Solution Related Policies Notices Demo Technical Overview Problems and Plans

32 Problems Encountered Huge developer learning curve Slow adoption by senders Lack of recipient awareness –ignoring subscriptions –not opening notices System instability

33 Work in Progress Fully automated notice feeds Initial automatic subscriptions Ability to reply to a notice

34 Planned Enhancements Distributed group administration Automated records retention Purge and archive functions Accessibility issues

35 For Further Information...