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

Need For a Portal ► Central location to be direct link to resources from different locations  Financial Aid  Registration   Campus Activities  Admissions  Academics

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

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

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.

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

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

Test Run, cont. ► 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 What is your overall rating of MySU? 1 (Dislike) 2 3 (Neutral) 4 5 (Love it!) poll taken from:

Channels to be Represented ► Faculty and Staff ► Prospective Students ► Current Students ► Alumni ► Parents ► Guests

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

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

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

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

Sample Models ► Tabs allow: ► Specific groups to quickly access individualized information ► Easy direction to menus ► Clear organization taken from:

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: and

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:

► Works Cited  Georgia Institute of Technology (2004). Buzzport. Retrieved February 25, 2005, from  Pheonix College (2005). Retrieved February 25, 2005, from  San Francisco State University (2005). Student Portal. Retrieved February 25, 2005 from  Seattle University (2004). mysu. Retrieved February 25, 2005, from ► Resources  Burke, J. (2001) Educational web portals: Guidelines for selection and use (Report No. IR ). Atlanta, United States: Southern Regional Education Board (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED )  Harr, G.L. (2002) Connections: A comprehensive student portal (Report No. IR – ). Florida Community College (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED )