Ellingsburg University Portal
Conceptualization
Angela S. Brown
Kimberly Crady
Kimberly Hardaway
Mark A. Woolwine
Ellingsburg University Portal (EDGE) Conceptualization
Team
The EDGE team shall consist of the following:
Director of Residential Life
Rep. from Office of Communications
President of Faculty Senate
Student Rep. from SGA
Student From the Computer Information Systems Program
Graduate Student in Student Affairs Program
* Note that EDGE stands for Empowering Dynamic Generations through Education
The Philosophy…
In order to bring the EDGE Portal to the University, we suggest that Ellingsburg adopt
the following as part of their mission statement:
•Ellingsburg University is committed to the development of a student-focused learning
community distinguished by a shared academic purpose, collaboration, mutual respect,
inclusiveness, and personal responsibility. The University will provide leadership for a
diverse university community and foster a nurturing environment that encourages the
professional and personal development of each student and of those who serve them.
The University will creatively utilize human resources and new technology to provide
effective services and programs. In partnership with the faculty, we will strive to develop
life-long learners and responsible global citizens.
Why a Portal and not the University Web
Presence?
Throughout the history of Higher Education colleges and universities have
described themselves as communities. Many have called themselves
“communities of scholars,” “communities of skeptics,” and “learning
communities.” Today academic organizations are harnessing the evolving
technologies and new organizational principles to create powerful and
compelling communities. Once created, online communities create and reinforce
stake holder loyalties in much the way that traditional campuses do (Katz, 2002,
p.8).
What should a portal be able to do?
Based on Richard Katz, book Web Portals & Higher Education (1999), the
following are recommendations for what a portal must be able to do.
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Provide access to all information and services
through a single graphical interface.
Support a single log-on to obtain authentication
and authorization to all information resources
and applications.
Provide framework in which all elements of the
university (academic, administrative, and
community) and all business applications can
be arranged.
Provide a convenient set of communication
services that are web-based.
Provide one stop place were all members of the
university can perform all business
transactions.
Provide the ability to present information and
access to services on an individual basis in a
personalized manner.
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Provide each member of the community with
the ability to customize the appearance, layout,
and information on an individual basis.
Grant to the university full control and self
management of appearance and content.
Be vendor-independent (not locked into
proprietary hardware or software).
Be free of commercialization (no advertising or
selling of products unless university
sponsored).
Be available to all constituents twenty-four
hours a day seven days a week.
Be flexible and able to absorb new technology
advantages and new applications.
Faculty members, fellow students, our campuses, the teams, and every
aspect of what colleges and universities do leave lasting, lifetime
impressions on students. When these impressions are positive ones,
these students become lifelong members of our communities. The portal
challenge is a rallying call to get ourselves organized to better for these
lifelong impressions.
A customized portal will allow for Ellingsburg University to leave lasting
impressions for the students so that they will have life long connections
with the University. If designed right it should allow a prospective student
to stay connected all the way until they become a alumni. This will benefit
the University in the form of donations, siblings and children of alumni, etc.
Ellingsburg University Portal Channels
Students
The Planning Committee has
reviewed various portals being
used by our benchmark
universities and has came to the
conclusion that these channels
are the basic channels that
should be included in the first
phase of the Ellingsburg EDGE
Portal.
Parents
Future Students
Ellingsburg University Portal
EDGE
Faculty/Staff
Alumni
The Goal…
The goal of our portal is to provide people with the information they needwhen they need it, where they need it, and in a format that can easily be
acted upon. This will make it easier for people to find Ellingsburg University
information. The portal shall bring all relevant information to the person
based on their authorizations. The portal member shall identify themselves
to the portal and then the portal will use the detailed knowledge the
University has about this person to gather together information relevant to
that person and display it in one place.
With this statement in mind one can infer that the portal must be customercentered.
The Benefits…
Students Benefit from Portals By:
•Web interface with courseware and required
information about courses
•Increased and easier communication with
faculty
•Online access to grades, financial aid
information, class schedules, and graduation
checks
•Access to the communities of interest within
the university, such as sports, clubs, and
community service opportunities.
•Increased lifelong learning opportunities
Faculty and Staff Benefit from
Portals By:
•Real time communications with students
•Simplified course management tools
•Instant access to information for advising
students
•Easily accessible information for every facet
of their job.
The Application…
How the portal (EDGE) will work
The Design…
Once the EDGE committee meets with all channel constituents and gathers information
on what each group wants it channel to convey to its population, we suggest a layout
based on the Graphic design above. Users will sign in with their EU User ID and
password. EDGE will recognize and authorize each member based on their classification
in the Central Database (Such as PeopleSoft).
•The portal will have a left navigation menu with links to various information.
•The navigation menu will open up links in a center window embedded in the portal page.
•To the right of the EDGE Portal will be a news section in which University News, Student
News, and other important information will appear.
Please see the next slide for an example of the portal and an explanation of each
section
At the top of the EDGE Portal Window will be the tabs
for Students, Future Students, Alumni, Faculty/Staff
and Parents.
Located on the left of the
EDGE Portal Page will be a
menu based on the role of
the portal member.
Located in the center of the EDGE Portal is
the area where the links in the left navigation
menu will open and give the portal member
access to the information.
Located to the right of the EDGE Portal will
be news, headlines, and important
information that is pertinent to the portal
members authentication.
Suggestions for possible information in the navigation menu for each Portal Member:
Students
•Financial Aid: Student Accounts, Credit Union, Loans,
Grants, Scholarships, Federal Work Study, FAFSA ,
Tuition
•Student Code of Conduct: Student Handbook, Rules
and Regulations of Ellingsburg University.
•Grades: Provides Semester Grades, Transcript, etc
•Class Schedule: Register for classes, drop classes,
display class schedule
•Dining Services: Provides students with meal plans,
current balance left on the Student ID card, etc
•Online Forms: Provides student the online forms for
various information.
•Library: Provides students with a listing of current
books checked out, library hours
•Clubs and Organizations: Lists clubs that students
are involved in. Lists the Greek Orgs, etc.
•Career Center: Provides students with career services
such as job hunting, resume posting, etc
•Student Directory: Provides students with a directory
of students on campus
•Email: Students of Ellingsburg University are issued
EU.edu email. This will allow them to check their email.
Future Students
•Admissions: Applications, Requirements, Programs,
Orientation, Campus Tours,
•Financial Aid: Student Accounts, Credit Union, Loans,
Grants, Scholarships, Federal Work Study, FAFSA ,
Tuition
•Academics: Academic Calendar, Advising,
Programs/Departments, Majors, Catalog, Library, Study
Abroad
•Student Activities: Organizations, Greek Life,
Intramurals, Dining Services
•Student Services: Bursar, Registrars Office, Postal
Services, Parking, Campus Safety/Security
•Housing Residence: Residence Halls, On/Off
Campus Opportunities, Rates
•Health Services/Counseling: Health Services,
Student Insurance
•Special Services: Summer Programs, Arts, Museums,
Multi-Culture Center
•General Information: Driving Directions, Bookstore
Suggestions for possible information in the navigation menu for each Portal Member:
Alumni
•Campus News: Provided basic news to the Alumni
•Reunions: Information about upcoming class reunions
•Homecoming: Information on the annual homecoming
events of Ellingsburg University
•Alumni Association: Schedule of Meetings, Reports,
Fees,
•Membership: Dues, Application
•Giving: Allows alumni to give money to the school
through special gifts, donations, estates
•Volunteer: Lists volunteer opportunities for Alumni
members of Ellingsburg University.
•Athletics: Lists the sporting events, ticket prices, and
fan appreciate pages.
•Online Directory: Holds Basic Alumni Information
such as current Address, Phone and email.
•Email: If desired alumni members of Ellingsburg
University can keep their EU.edu email address. This
will allow them to check their email.
•Job Openings: Online posting board for current jobs in
the market both in the Ellingsburg Community and the
University.
Faculty/Staff
•New Employees: Orientation Information, Employee
Handbook, Insurance Information, Message from the
President
•Faculty/Staff Senate: Meeting Information, Agendas,
Minutes, Officers, Contact Information
•Grade/Class Rosters: Rosters, Class Schedules,
Term Offerings, Student Information
•Online Forms: Travel Forms, Reimbursement Forms,
News Forms
•Office Directories: Online listing of Office Personnel
•Resources: Handbook, Map of Campus,
•Policies/Procedures/Guidelines: Sexual Harassment
Policy, Sick Leave, Tuition Remittance, etc.
•Professional Development: Online information about
upcoming development seminars and conferences
•Human Resources: Workers Comp, Insurance Forms,
Payroll, Timesheets
•Administrative Services: Password Reset, User ID,
etc
•Email: Faculty members of Ellingsburg University are
issued EU.edu email. This will allow them to check their
email.
Suggestions for possible information in the navigation menu for each Portal Member:
Parents
•Financial Aid: Information for parents regarding
Student Accounts, Credit Union, Loans, Grants,
Scholarships, Federal Work Study, FAFSA , Tuition,
FERPA
•Academics: Academic Calendar, Advising,
Programs/Departments, Majors, Catalog, Library, Study
Abroad
•Student Activities: Organizations, Greek Life,
Intramurals, Dining Services
•Student Services: Bursar, Registrars Office, Postal
Services, Parking, Campus Safety/Security
•Housing Residence: Residence Halls, On/Off
Campus Opportunities, Rates
•Health Services/Counseling: Health Services,
Student Insurance
•Parents Helpline: Provided information and numbers
for the Parents Helpline.
•Special Services: Summer Programs, Arts, Museums,
Multi-Culture Center
•General Information: Driving Directions, Bookstore
Feedback
•The EDGE team recommends meeting with all departments on campus to
assess what each department will need in their portal channels.
•The EDGE team recommends that a demo portal be setup on the University
servers. We then suggest that various members from each channel be asked to
test the portal and give feedback on features and accessibility.
•Once the official version of EDGE gets posted to the community, we recommend
a feedback form that will allow channel members to give feedback on problems,
features, and accessibility.
Examples of “good practice” portals
These are examples of good practice sites that the EDGE team has reviewed and feels that Ellingsburg could model their
portal after:
University of Tennessee – http://online.utk.edu
University of Louisville – http://ulink.louisville.edu
University of Florida -- https://my.ufl.edu/
Southern Methodist University - https://access.smu.edu
Indiana University-- https://onestart.iu.edu/
Conclusion
As one can see the Ellingsburg University EDGE Portal Committee has researched the idea of
a portal and hereby asks that the University consider further investigating and implementing
the EDGE Portal. To further the EDGE Portal Project we suggest that an implementation team
be organized to gather the required information based on each portal channel.
Through our research we believe that Ellingsburg will become more connected and grow as a
community. Each member of the University will benefit from the Portal as we have shown.
With the Portal giving members a personalized and customized site based on who they are, it
will make the members feel as though they are more a part of the University and that the
University cares about them.
As Kramer (2003) states, “there is no question that technology, when carefully designed as a
partner in delivering student services, can flatten organizational barriers and empower
students” (Kramer, 2003, p. 445).
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