Creating Windows to the World Ellingsburg University Portal Initiative

1. Creating Windows to the WorldEllingsburg University Portal Initiative Jessica Clifford Andrea Zwolinski Emily Perlow Bowling Green State University

2. Residence Life Faculty Senate Office of Communications Institutional Research University Libraries Disability Services Registrar Alumni Affairs Office of Admissions Parent’s Council Technology Support Student Liaisons Portal Development Team The following offices are represented:

3. Objectives Examine the current University website to determine improvements Research advantages in the development of a personalized portal system Make recommendations regarding development, structure, and content of portal, grounded in theory and relevant research

4. Guiding Questions The following questions guided the portal development team’s discussion: • How will the development of a portal improve our current practices in regards to efficiency and effectiveness? • How will the development of a portal enhance student learning and development? (Barratt, 2003)

5. According to our Students… “When I get on the EU homepage, sometimes I find it really hard to find the web pages I am looking for without using the search engine. I wish it was all right there for me.” ---Ryan, sophomore “When I use the EU website, I want to take care of business and get on with what I need to do. I wish I could just go to one place to schedule classes, check grades, find my professor’s office hours, and pay my bill.”—Carrie, senior

6. A Portal Defined A portal is an interactive collection of resources compiled into a single web page, which provides access to information, knowledge, and human assets. Portals enable users to customize the information they are viewing based on their personal interests. (Looney & Lyman, 2000; Harney, 2005)

7. Portal vs. Website Upgrade “89% of the estimated 58 million people using the Web in the United States use some type of portal.” “Put simply, an institution’s portal is designed to make an individual’s Web experience more efficient and thereby make the institution as a whole more productive and responsive.” (Looney & Lyman, 2000, p. 31)

8. Portal vs. Website Upgrade According to the Campus Computing Project, in 2004 approximately 37% of higher education institutions in the US offered a portal with a single sign-on option, up from 28.5% in 2003 (The Campus Computing Project, 2004). EU now has the opportunity to serve on the forefront of this shift to portal use.

9. Implementation Outcomes • Extends the campus community far beyond the physical boundaries of campus • Assists EU in creating a consistent image • Provides efficient access to data, reducing administrative costs • Increase admissions through online application • Fosters feeling of community, thereby improving retention of current students • Creates the opportunity for quality interaction with other constituents such as alumni and parents, which can encourage greater financial support (Looney & Lyman, 2000)

10. Team Tasks Develop a user-friendly portal for future and current students, parents, community members, alumni, faculty, and staff • Portal will coexist with, rather than replace, the University’s website • Portal will serve as a “front porch” to the institution • “The porch is a physical structure, but at the same time a sociopetal feature that encourages social interaction” (Strange & Banning, 2001, p. 198).

11. Addressing Guiding Questions How will the development of a portal improve our current practices in regards to efficiency and effectiveness? • Encourages collaboration among all constituents in order to better serve students • Allows for the creation of a seamless learning environment • Provides greater accessibility for users at their convenience, rather than on the University’s schedule, in order to reach a more diverse population (Blimling & Whitt, 1999).

12. Collaboration is Key “Collaboration involves all aspects of the community in the development and implementation of institutional goals and reminds participants of their common commitment to students and their learning” (ACPA & NASPA,1997, as cited in Schroeder, 1999, p. 133).

13. Addressing Guiding Questions How will the development of a portal enhance student learning and development? • Strengthens the connections between in-class and out-of-class experiences • Offers a new form of communication between the University and constituents • Provides a new forum for community building

14. Boundary Spanning Portals extend environments: • Chronologically—long term use for users • Relationally—many constituents represented • Contextually—users customize portal • Competitively—EU on the technology forefront (Jafari & Sheehan, 2002)

15. Creating Community

16. Community Building “Using CMC (computer-mediated communication) to form a virtual community of common interests among students seems to hold promise for reducing barriers between students’ academic lives and their social lives”. (Strange & Banning, 2001, p. 187). “The real attraction to being online is the basic human desire to be in touch with people” (Hudson,1997, as cited in Strange & Banning, 2001, p. 184).

17. Creating Community

18. Excellent Portal Examples • University of California Las Angeles www.my.ucla.edu One of the oldest, directory-style portals with daily highlights of student newspaper • University of Washington myuw.washington.edu Links for faculty and staff to improve teaching (Looney & Lyman, 2000; Panetierri, 2004)

19. Excellent Portal Examples • University of Minnesota www.myu.umn.edu Campus news access customizable • University of Buffalo www.buffalo.edu/aboutmyub Index down left side of page makes the site very navigable (Panetierri, 2004)

20. Implementation Timeline • Implementation will occur in four phases: Phase I Assess constituent needs through surveys Phase II Create standard portal Provide incentives for usage relying on campus traditions Phase III Implement customized portal for constituents Train university employees Phase IV Assess usage and solicit feedback about portal through surveys Complete January 2005

21. Portal Assessment • To assess what the portal content will comprise, an electronic survey will be sent via email to all campus offices and a representative sample of students. • After collection of the survey, the portal development team will assess the necessary components. • Ongoing assessment will take place during each implementation phase.

22. Portal Assessment Assessment is a critical component of an effective and efficient portal system and in measuring outcomes. Users will be randomly selected at sign-on. • Individual assessments of the portal components will ‘pop up’ when the user closes that particular function.

23. EU Portal Components • Single sign on to access all components • Recognizing that portal implementation can be costly, the portal will give aging data access software a face-lift by providing an updated web look (Sausner, 2005). • Customized webpage tailored to constituents’ needs • Uses Customer Relationship Management (CRM) philosophy (Williams, 2000)

24. Important links Virtual chat capabilities with all portal users Web surveys Personal web page tools Online file storage Library card catalogue Components for all Users All users will have the following features: • Ask EU!—Chat capability with Information Desk • E-mail access • University calendar • Campus news highlights • Message boards • Directory search function

25. Specialized Components All users will have a specialized portal depending upon their constituent needs, as a way to “hook” them into the university environment(Astin, 1999). Specialized portals will be designed for: • University employees • Students • Alumni • Prospective students • Parents • Community members

26. Student portal component examples: Housing registration Roommate selection Virtual faculty office hours Financial aid information Grade verification Meal plan status Virtual advising Members-only message boards for student groups Online bill paying Student Components “Students today expect campus- wide access to IT. The title of ‘most wired campus’ has taken on a status similar to the ‘best colleges’ list” (Barratt, 2003,p. 382).

27. Specialized Components University employee portal component examples: • Teaching resources • Technology training modules • Class schedules & rosters • Policy and procedure manuals • Virtual office hour capability • Message boards for courses • Human resources information • Benefits package information “Communication technologies that increase access to faculty members, help them share useful resources, and provide for joint problem solving and shared learning can usefully augment face-to-face contact in and outside of class meetings” (Chickering & Ehrmann, 1996, p. 4).

28. Specialized Components Alumni portal component examples: • Online giving • Career network • Update & access directory • Alumni group message boards • Virtual alumni magazine “Many see the web as a way to serve the interests of young alumni and to keep older, technically oriented alums happy because their campus is on the cutting edge” (Stoner & Cartwright, 1997, p. 3). • Prospective student portal component examples: • Online admissions application form & status • Housing application • Chat capability with admissions “Web personalization increases the odds that students will return to a college website and spend more time exploring their own personalized content versus aimlessly surfing” (Williams, 2000, p. 5).

29. Specialized Components Parent portal component examples: • Clery Act reports • Parenting resources • Parent’s Weekend calendar “I'm shopping for a college. Actually, my son is looking at colleges; I'm inspecting them. I'm an undercover agent, a secret shopper, an admission counselor's advocate...I am the informed buyer the president should meet” (Glass, 2004, p. 2). A campus-community program takes time to cultivate and requires vision, resources, effective communication, and openness to doing things a different way” (Bonsall, Harris, & Marczak, 2002, p. 95). • Community portal component examples: • Upcoming events open to public • Course offerings • Community outreach effort information

30. Tapping into Traditions “Strong culture may constrain innovation or attempts to do things differently”(Kuh & Whitt, 1997, p. 128). To encourage portal usage, it is important to be aware of current campus culture and use it as leverage to encourage portal usage. “Culture is an active living phenomenon through which people create and recreate the worlds in which they live” (Morgan, 1986, as cited in Kuh and Whitt, 1997, p. 128).

31. Tapping into Traditions We recognize the importance of tradition on EU’s campus. Thus, to introduce the new portal concept, some of the following traditions could be used: • Homecoming event registration • Greek and student organization registration and services • Instant communication for students over the summer months • Residence hall room and meal plan assignments

32. Managing Cost Consider collaboration with other institutions in software purchases to lessen costs and increase buying power. • Example: A collaboration was recently cemented with Reed College (OR), Vassar (NY), Swarthmore (PA), and Occidental (CA) (Panetierri, 2004).

33. Managing Cost Student Involvement • Consider utilizing students in the implementation and training processes of the portal • Not only are students a cost saving measure but they will also be more involved in the process • “When the students realize that their voices and abilities are valued and recognized, they will be more inclined to contribute their time, energy, and support for information technology initiatives” (Ausiello & Wells, 1997, p. 79).

34. Seven Principles Using Chickering and Gamson’s (1996) Seven Principles: • Encourages faculty and student contact • Virtual office hours • Cooperation among students • Student organization message boards • Utilizes active learning techniques • Message boards

35. Seven Principles • Provides prompt feedback • Financial & academic records accessible immediately • Emphasizes time on task • Lessens time spent serving constituents at administrative offices • Communicates high expectations • Brand management of unified website • Respects diverse abilities and learning styles • Constituents access data at personal pace

36. Time for Change “In any new technology, the first generation copies the assumptions, inclinations and biases of the pre-technological world. Today’s on-line and on-disk advertising reflects the worldview of the printing press and broadcast TV network. In time, smart interactive advertisers will shake off the dead hand of the past and start crafting new communications vehicles that tune themselves uniquely to each prospect, that tempt the click and book the sale.” (Jack Powers, 1996, as cited in Williams, 2000, p. 12)

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38. References Jafari, A., & Sheehan, M. (2002). Designing portals. Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing. Kuh, G. W., & Whitt, E. J. (1997). The invisible tapestry: Culture in American colleges and universities. In E. J. Whitt (Ed.), College student affairs administration (pp. 125-136). Needham Heights, MA: Simon and Schuster. Looney, M., & Lyman, P. (2000). Portals in higher education: What are they, and what is their potential? EDUCAUSE review, 35(4), 29-36. Panetierri, J. (2004). Can free portals make the grade? University Business, October 2004, 36-38. Retrieved February 19, 2005 from www.universitybusiness.com. Sauser, R. (2005). Taming the web infrastructure beast. University Business, February 2005, 45-48. Retrieved February 19, 2005 from www.universitybusiness.com. Schroeder, C. C. (1997). Identifying the principles that guide student affairs practice. In E. J. Whitt, & G. S. Blimling (Eds.), Good practices in student affairs: Principles to foster student learning (pp. 1-20). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Stoner, M., & Cartwright, G. P. (1997). Alumni, public relations, admissions—and technology. Change, 29, 50-52. Strange, C., & Banning, J. (2001). Educating by design: creating campus learning environments that work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. The Campus Commuting Project. (2004). The Campus Computing Survey. Retrieved February 19, 2005 from www.campuscomputing.net. Williams, B. C. (2000). To the personalized, go the prospects. Journal of College Admission, 166, 12-21.