Ellingsburg University
Home of the “Fighting Elves”
Web Portal
Conceptual Development Team Report
Vivek Arunkumar
Jim Ginzer
Kristi Maxwell
Lisa Yafonaro
Wright State University
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Agenda
 Current situation
 At Ellingsburg
 In Higher Education
 Project Objectives
 Pros and Cons
 Project Proposal
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Scope
Assumptions
Organization
Requirements
Roll Out
Costs
 Sample Pages
 Measuring Success
 References
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Ellingsburg’s Current Situation
 University Website is “Stale”
 Design
 Branding
 Functionality
 Conceptual Development Team Chartered
by Technology Director
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Needs Statement
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Ellingsburg wants to identify a need for a portal as opposed to the website.
The following were identified from other institutions:
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To get a students, faculty and administration on the same page- a “one-stopshop” idea.
To improve the quality of student life, thereby improving retention
To aid in campus recruitment efforts, especially if the student portal included a
“prospective student” variation.
To showcase what the university offers
To foster a consistent sense of university identity
To market the university to past student population *
Support and justification from a mixture of stakeholders will be necessary.
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To collect surveys, to hold public meetings, have interviews with successful and
unsuccessful universities with portals, and to hold focus group, all for the purpose
of implementing a useful and successful web portal for
* Source: http://bearlink.berkeley.edu/sis/projects/mn_rpt.html.
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What is a Customized Student Portal?
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A portal is a kind of Web site.
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Technically speaking, a portal site includes a start page with rich
navigation, a collection of loosely integrated features (some of which
may be provided by partners or other third parties), and a large,
diverse, target audience.
 For example, Campus Pipeline is a web portal.
A web portal is the central point of web access from which all
members of the campus community tap into academic resources,
administrative services, community information, and the Internet - all
online, from anywhere at any time.*
* Source: http://www.ui-integrate.uillinois.edu/over_glossary.asp
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What is a Customized Student Portal? - cont.
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This means that:
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The portal supplies a secure gateway to access institutional
systems and services.
It brings together a collection of services and information.
It allows the user to receive a personalized content and
experience.
It allows the users to actively customize their own content and
interface according to their own needs.*
* Source: http://www.eportal.mis.ed.ac.uk/MyEd/Service/general/Why%20we%20need%20MyEd.htm
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What is a Customized Student Portal? - cont.
 Portals are the current direction for student web access
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22% of all Higher Education Institutions have one already
18% were in process of implementation
40% were in process of planning *
 Established portals eventually report between 60 and 99%
usage by students.**
* Source: EDUCASE study referenced in http://www.wright.edu/usr/portal/portal.html
** Source: http://bearlink.berkeley.edu/sis/projects/mn_rpt.html#section_two
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Why a Portal and Not Just the University
Web Site?
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A portal benefits both to the institution and the users themselves. The benefits of
having a portal can be seen in a multitude of ways:
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A portal would advance the institution’s community, help students to save time and resources,
and help students stay more organized.
Support a single log-on to obtain authentication and authorization to all information resources
and applications
Provide a framework where all elements of the university (academic, administrative, and
community) and all business applications can be integrated
Provide a convenient set of Web-based communications services
Provide a one-stop place to 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
Grant to the university full control and management of appearance and content
Be vendor independent (not locked into proprietary hardware and/or software)
Be free of commercialism
Be available to all constituents 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Be flexible and able to absorb new technology advances and new applications.
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Student Learning Experiences
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Ausiello and Wells (1997) described a number of valuable student learning
implications
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Student involvement in planning and implementation teaches
 Negotiation skills
 Planning skills
 Requirements gathering skills
 Project monitoring skills
Ongoing portal usage teaches
 Web page development skills
 Collaboration tool skills
 Career exploration
 Multiplistic thinking
Can lead to improved student satisfaction, an important indicator of academic success,
because
 Information available 24X7
 Up to date information available
 Technology based administrative processes
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The Literature
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Katz and Associates (2002)
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Advocated (p. 36) creation of a “CPAD” Vertical Portal
 Customized
 Personalized
 Adaptive
 Desktop
Recognized (p. 28) a changing paradigm in communication between
students and faculty and administrators
Saw (p. 33) information management moving from institution-centered to
student-centered
 All the information that is important to a particular student
Described (p. 39) personal “data cameos” present on web pages at all time
 Possible applications may include
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Overdue library materials
Homework assignments
Organization meetings
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Some Concerns Associated
with Implementation of a Web Portal
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A university has to expect students, faculty and/or staff to express some concerns with
the development of a web portal. Such issues that may be expressed are:
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Resources
 Is the funding and budgetary support available for software, hardware, training and
staffing support for faculty and administrative divisions? Funding needs to be
stable and available for the life span of the portal project.
Integration
 How useful will the portal be? The more systems that can be incorporated into the
student portal, the more useful and beneficial it will become.
Built Strong and Scalable
 Can this portal support heavy usage? Technical communications/infrastructures
must be able to support heavy traffic.
 Governance- Who “owns” or is responsible for establishing and maintaining
internal campus communications? Clear guidelines and authority need to be
established and maintained. *
* Source: http://bearlink.berkeley.edu/sis/projects/mn_rpt.html
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Some Concerns Associated with
Implementation of a Web Portal - cont.
 What support may be required for students with disabilities?
 What support may be required for students who do not own
computers?
 Walk up computers and loaners (Ausielo and Wells, 1997)
 What support may be necessary for those students who are
not comfortable with the technology? (Ausielo and Wells)
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Scope
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Phase 1 - Portal Home Page One stop shopping for student
affairs
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Library
Residence Life
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 Phase 2 - Electronic
Campus
Residence Hall activities
Maintenance reports
Electronic Mail
WWW access
Student Union Notices
Community Activities
Elves Athletics
Bursar
Registrar
Other Linkages as
Departments are identified
Student Customization
Collaboration Tools
Calendar Tools
Academic Support Tools
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Course materials
Student Group Pages
Bookstore
Phase 3 - Life Long Access
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Alumni Pages
Parent Pages
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Phase 1 Project Milestones
 Approval for Phase - Spring 2005
 Needs Assessment Complete - 4 Weeks after Approval for
Phase 1
 Planning Complete - 4 Weeks after Needs Assessment
Complete
 Go/No Go Check Point
 Detailed Schedule, Costs
 Ready for Trial - May 2006
 Trial Complete - August 2006
 Go/No Go for Phase 1 Turn Up - August 2006
 Phase 1 Turn Up - Fall 2006
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Assumptions/Dependencies
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Performance requirements must be developed
High level of customization for the user
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Portal must be compatible with Mac and IBM computers
Ability to link up with the system regardless of what server the user is accessing
the portal
Must be able to link a variety of services together
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Ability to change “busy” pages to choose variety of channels or “uncluttered” pages to
display primary functioning channels
Ability to view channels and pages at different levels of graphic accessibility regardless
of memory and computer upgrades on user’s computer
Student Registration
Financial Aid
University Library
Career Services
Portal will comply with the Disability Discrimination Act or 1995 and the Special
Educational Needs and Disability Act of 2001
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Assistance from webaim.com (provider of Web accessibility expertise)
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Project Organization
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The development and planning committee will identify the needs of the university
community by conducting a series of surveys, interviews, and focus groups.
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Conceptual Development and Planning Team
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Besides the member of the Technological Department’s staff and the assigned team
members, the development and planning team should consist of the following members:
 Director of Residence
Services
 Representative from the
Office of Communications
 President of the Faculty
Senate
 Senior Academic Affairs
Officers
 Representative from the
RegistrarХsOffice
 Representative from the
BursarХs Office
 Vice President of Student
Affairs
 Representative from the
Alumni Association
 Representative from the Marketing
Department
 Representative from University
Libraries
 Representatives form the var ious
Student Affa irs Departments
 Representatives form the
Inst itut ional Research Office
 Representative from the Student
Govern ment Association
 Representative from the Off ice of
Disability Services
 Representative from the
Residential Community Association
 Trans fer students from Universities
with existing portals
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Project Organization (cont.)
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Implementation Team
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Professional web designers
Technology specialists from the various departments on campus
Representatives from the Office of Communications
Representatives from the University Technology Office
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The Conceptual Development and Planning Team will remain engaged
through the implementation phase to report to each division of the university
on the portal design and project progress
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The Office of Student Affairs should maintain overall advocacy for the project
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Implementation Considerations
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Needs Assessment
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Monitoring
Vendor management
Change control
Close Out
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Performance
Reliability
Risk Management
Costs
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Implementation
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Detailed project planning
Scheduling
Cost estimates
Communications Plan
Environment
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Planning
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Collecting input and feedback
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Implementation
Ongoing
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Enhancement
Maintenance
Training and Rollout
Implementation retrospective
Evaluations
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Legal and Ethical Considerations
 Ausiello and Wells (1997) pointed out that better
access to information and technology needs to be
coupled with information regarding
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Plagiarism
Cheating
Illegal downloads
Copyright laws
Email and chat conduct
Harassment
 Recommend that Ellingsburg quickly develop
guidelines on appropriate use of the portal tools.
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Site Structure
Portal Conceptual Map
Student Portal Home Page
Academics
Academic Departments
Library
Registrar
Bursar
Course Support
Collaboration Tools
University Catalog
Advising Information
Student Life
Elves' Athletics
Residence Life
Per Residence Hall Page
Student Union
Student Health
Student Affairs
Judicial Affairs
Student Groups
Classified Ads for Student Sales
Student Handbook
Career Services
Campus Scene Webcams
Community
Community Activities
Local Business Pages
Student Custom Page
News Channels
WWW Access
EMAIL
Internet Radio
Chat
Anything from the other pages
Life Long Members
Parent Interest
Alumni Interest
Village Interest
Career Services
Registrar
ECourses
(Future)
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Roll-out and Training
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Phase 1 availability at start of academic year
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Introduce with email and U.S. mail from VP of Student Affairs over
summer
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Student Affairs Staff will promote on campus via hall meetings, info sessions
24 hour support “Hot Line” during first four weeks of term
Quick Reference Card Available in all residence hall rooms on move in
day
Contests to be run to encourage exploration of portal links
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Trial implementation turned up during summer sessions
Scavenger Hunts
Treasure Hunts
Local merchants who provide links will also give discounts during first
month of term
Subsequent phases will be turned up each term
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Initial Cost Issues
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Hardware
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Portal Server - $5,000 (estimate)
Additional campus computers - $50,000 (estimate)
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Use freeware (e.g. uPortal)
Implementation
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Can we get a grant or special donation to cover these costs?
Software
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25 Loaner laptops for library use
70 Desktop computers
1.5 FTE staff for duration of planning, trial, implementation, and turn up
phases
Bias toward granting students work study or academic credit (Ausiello and
Wells, 1997)
Support
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University staff required for needs assessment and implementation reviews
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On-going Costs
 Hardware
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Internet connections
Server maintenance
PC maintenance
Printer maintenance
 Technical Support
 Critical to maintain “freshness” of sites
 Implementation support for groups and departments - 1 FTE
staff member
 Bias toward granting students work study or academic credit
(Ausiello and Wells, 1997)
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Examples of Good Sites
 University of California at Berkeley
 Bear Link (sample follows)
 Wright State University
 WINGS (sample follows)
 University of Saskatchewan
 PAWS (http://students.usask.ca)
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Customizable student portal page
University Academic Support and Collaboration Tools
Measuring Success
 The success of the portal can be measured in terms of
 Number of hits on different channels
 Number of registered users
 Number of sessions
 Use of surveys and focus groups to measure student
satisfaction of portal implementation
 Number of integrated systems
 Students spending less time waiting in line
 Better quality advising due to decreased in-person
advising on basic issues
 Reduced staff burnout
 Fewer calls to administrative offices *
* Source: http://bearlink.berkeley.edu/sis/projects/mn_rpt.html#section_five
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High Level Recommendations
 Under the leadership of the Office of
Student Affairs
 Move forward with detailed planning
 Under the leadership of the Finance Office
 Start to identify funding sources
 Under the leadership of the Technology
Director
 Develop an Information Technology Mission
Statement (Ausiello and Wells, 1997)
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References
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Ausiello, K. and Wells, B. (1997). Information technology and student affairs: Planning for the twenty-first
century. New Directions for Student Services. Summer 1997 Issue 78, 71-81.
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Cabacungan, C., Clark, C., Feldman, R. , Flamm, P., Ford, G., Markowitz, K., et al. (2002, May 22).
Leadership development program 2001/2002: Student portal project. Retrieved from
http://bearlink.berkeley.edu/sis/projects/mn_rpt.html
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Enterprise resource planning glossary. Retrieved February 25, 2005 from http://www.uiintegrate.uillinois.edu/over_glossary.asp
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Katz, R. and Associates (2002). Web portals and higher education: Technologies to make IT personal. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
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Lowey, K. (2002). My University Portals FAQ V1.0. Retrieved from
http://www.usask.ca/web_project/uwebd/portals_faq.html
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University Systems Replacement Portal Project. Retrieved February 25, 2005 from
http://www.wright.edu/usr/portal
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Why do we need MyED? Retrieved February 25, 2005 from
http://www.eportal.mis.ed.ac.uk/MyEd/Service/general/Why%20we%20need%20MyEd.htm
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