2005 OrACRAO Conference1 Portals Technology: Best Practices Presented by Roberto Suárez PCC Cascade Admissions Office

2005 OrACRAO Conference2 Outline  What is a portal?  PCC’s Guiding Principles  Implementation Priorities  PCC’s Comparative Study  Outline of Best Practices  Current Challenges  Portal examples

2005 OrACRAO Conference3 What is a portal?  A growing field in technology where customers are able to access information about a particular company or organization in a way that directly relates to their own needs. (Mathern, 2)  An individualized pathway for students, faculty and staff to access communication tools, personal records and college services. (MyPCC Project Details)

2005 OrACRAO Conference4 PCC’s Guiding Principles (Source: Portal Implementation Guiding Principles)  Evolving implementation  On-going communication  Establish priorities for implementation  Follow establish governance and regulations  Project-Management approach

2005 OrACRAO Conference5 Implementation Priorities (Source: Portal Implementation Guiding Principles)  Purchase, install software and hardware  Hire Title3 support staff  Implement Single sign-on access to the portal.  Implement the following services: Student Target announcements Virtual Advising Assistant My First-term Experience Online Transfer Center  BanWeb Access  Prepare and execute communications plan  Establish and conduct training  Establish support structure

2005 OrACRAO Conference6 Implementation Priorities, continued (Source: Portal Implementation Guiding Principles)  Migrate staff and faculty to portal  Implement calendaring  Establish “My Courses” area for students and faculty  Move access to Intranet content with the portal.  Integrate the following services/content: WebCT Library Student.pcc.edu (PCC Life Tab) Faculty.pcc.edu (Faculty Tab) Bookstore  Develop a frame-work for “best practices” in moving services, content, and web sites to the portal environment.

2005 OrACRAO Conference7 Comparative Study (Source: Content Analysis Pilot Study)  In Winter 2005, the Title III Manager conducted a comparative study of the kinds of resources and services available on college and university portals.  The goals of the project where: Identify the resources & services colleges and universities are offering on their portals. Identify what the resources and services are being called. identify which student resources/services might be offered on PCC’s portal that do not already have a place on the student portal.

2005 OrACRAO Conference8 Comparative Study, continued (Source: Content Analysis Pilot Study)  Sites reviewed: Illinois State University, University of Washington, University at Buffalo, SUNY, University of Delaware, University of North Carolina, Northeastern University, La Salle University, Salt Lake Community College, Clinton Community College, SUNY, Valencia Community College, Portland Community College, Des Moines Area Community College

2005 OrACRAO Conference9 Comparative Study, continued (Source: Content Analysis Pilot Study) Findings  Registration and financial aid tools were accessible on most portals.  There were no resources that were found to be universally available on all twelve sites from the pilot study.  Other services, such as news and weather, were sporadically offered without a consistent message about why each school chose to provide such services.  Most schools steered clear from offering links or information about external sites.  The core function of the portals viewed was to provide services for registration and financial aid.

2005 OrACRAO Conference10 Comparative Study, continued (Source: Content Analysis Pilot Study) Recommendations  Perform a more comprehensive portal content analysis by working to get access to at least 30 more portal sites around the country.  Recognize that no matter what kind of software package is purchased, there will be technical limitations based on the chosen software.  PCC must change some information immediately. The college does not put up enough information regarding career services and service learning/co-op education opportunities.  PCC also words information in such a way that makes it difficult for students to intuitively know where to click for information.

2005 OrACRAO Conference11 Outline of best practices (Source: UMASS Portal Strategy Discovery Report: Best Practices Analysis) Begin with services for Students Follow with services for faculty and staff, and consider expanding services to prospective students and alumni. Develop a Vision and Roadmap Outline the long-term objectives and strategy for portals at the university. The vision should be shared across the university and its various constituents. Collective Ownership Portal ownership should span campus offices, departments, and roles. Be inter-campus Accommodate varying constituent needs Develop solutions to meet the needs of specific university communities. One portal does not have to fit all possible constituent needs.

2005 OrACRAO Conference12 Outline of best practices, continued (Source: UMASS Portal Strategy Discovery Report: Best Practices Analysis) Communicate with stakeholders Practice ongoing communication with constituents to set expectations, promote accomplishments, and provide an avenue for feedback. Provide enhancements by leveraging existing investments– Make use of strengths of the current technology systems. A portal should enhance the current systems, not replace them Consolidate “smartly” Avoid developing services that duplicate existing functionality.

2005 OrACRAO Conference13 Outline of best practices, continued (Source: UMASS Portal Strategy Discovery Report: Best Practices Analysis) Embrace an iterative approach to development– The scope and complexity of a robust portal is daunting if all development is attempted in a single phase; build upon a series of smaller successes. Understand supporting processes, policies, and systems– Key areas to examine are security and content management. Understand and define requirements Requirements should address business, functional, user, and technology needs and constraints Robust portal solutions deliver: Consolidated web-based information services A single login point The ability to search for information across multiple, disparate web resources Personalized content and information

2005 OrACRAO Conference14 Current Challenges  Single login point across all portal applications.  Cumbersome process for accessing login info.  Intuitive labeling of content material.  Lack of content in career-related areas.  Encouraging stakeholders to use the portal and its tools.  Provide adequate training for students.  Unexpected technical challenges affecting key components (e.g. Degree Audit).

2005 OrACRAO Conference15 Portals Examples University of Washington University at Buffalo, SUNY University of Delaware Northeastern University Portland Community College

2005 OrACRAO Conference16 References Mathern, R. (2004). Portal Implementation Guiding Principles. Mathern, R. (2005). Content Analysis Pilot Study. MyPCC: Project Details. Retrieved March 04, 2005 from University of Massachusetts: Lowell Web Portal Initiative. UMASS Portal Strategy Discovery Report: Best Practices Analysis. Retrieved March 04, 2005 from