The Good, Bad and Ugly of Instituting a Portal on your Campus Cindy Hudson User Support Analyst Randolph-Macon Woman’s College Lynchburg, Virginia

Introduction What is a portal? How and why would your school benefit from having one? Do you really know what you’re in for?

Planning Build or buy it? Things to consider. Define project goals. Make sure everyone’s on the same page. Planning Committee –In addition to IT members, include Students, Faculty, and Staff – user involvement is crucial! Keep upper management informed.

Define Your Audience Although hopefully all will use it, who will be using the portal most? Students!! Design it for them first. Make sure both organizational and user requirements are being met.

Portal Layout – Keep it Simple What to call it? Example: myR-MWC Draft a diagram of how portal should look (tabs/pages and channels). Start small with the intention of growing. What types of things to include –Course Management, Class Schedules, , Electronic Portfolio, Student Billing, Campus Calendar, Weather, Announcements, Dining Hall Menu, Staff/Faculty and Student Directories, Links, Newspapers, Classifieds, Access to home and network drives, Calculators, Dictionary/Thesaurus, This Day In History, Cartoons, etc.

Portal Layout – Keep it Simple (continued) Templates/Skins Customization –What can users change and what stays static? Use small groups to test the portal before rolling out to everyone. Be mindful of feedback, both good and bad.

Selling the Idea and Getting Everyone On Board Needs to be accepted and supported from the top down. Must be useful and easy to use for all. Should have continuous availability with remote access. Let campus constituency know what’s coming and how it will benefit them.

Single Sign On/Authentication Need to get all systems on single sign on. Master database - one place to go to for user changes (addresses, names, etc.). Password sync program or custom code?

Ownership and Interfaces Who is responsible for which system? Updates and upgrades need to be tested and coordinated – Very Important! Who checks the portal each day and on weekends to make sure everything is working? If something is broken, who is responsible? Keep users informed of maintenance and downtimes.

Building Profiles Who has access to what systems? Group users to make things easier.

Keeping Everyone Happy Instructions – Again, Keep it Simple (no confusing technology terms). Keep information fresh so users will want to keep coming back for more! Develop new channels and advertise. Decide who needs to be involved with decisions on changes to the portal.

Keeping Everyone Happy (continued) Meet with Student Government, Administrative departments, and attend Faculty meetings to find out what’s working, what needs to be improved upon, and what users would like to see in the future – communication is VERY important! Annual Surveys Join listserves, network with other schools for ideas, share information.

Expanding the Concept Think about offering the portal to prospective students, parents of students, and alumni. How would they use the portal and what should be included? Communicate with the departments that would be involved to help with suggestions and layout.

Some Additional Things to Think About Recruiting and retention tool - when should students receive portal accounts? Documentation and training. Upgrade and maintenance costs. Always remember that the portal is a monster that constantly needs to be fed – don’t ignore it!

Good Luck with your Portal FOR YOUR TIME!