MSU Web Portal

Strategies and tactics to develop an MSU Web Portal

PowerPoint presentations

• Student LTR version
• LTR version

Portal: introduction and review

• "Retail" user benefit: streamline complex services to students, faculty and staff
  • Offer web-enabled processes
  • Consolidate/simplify access
  • Extend/expand information
• Employee benefit: simplify complex processes
  • Automate processes that are now manual
  • Manage information to eliminate the FAQs
  • Proactively anticipate growth and other service enhancements
• Intuitively integrate paper-based processes

Background/history

• Student technology roundtable request to ITS
• Student senate approved preliminary funding
• Portal survey report (96KB DOC) (Results of student surveys of features for proposed MSU web portal).
• The survey of students revealed:
  • Top requested features require login:
    • Course registration
    • Check grades
    • Read/send e-mail
  • Other top features requested:
    • weather
    • concerts/movies/music
    • news
    • sports

Other important items

• Working with Colgate University/St. Cloud State University Consortium
• Embody technology and project best-practices
• Reflect constituents' values in the planning, development, and deployment process
  • Orderly process
  • Phased delivery
  • Constituent input/ownership (team building

Sample university web portals

• UC Davis: home-grown application
• University at Buffalo
• George Washington U
• Colgate University
• U of Wisconsin, Madison
• Baylor University: two versions
• UConn

Development process

• Prototype to promote discussion
• Consider key content options:
  • MavMAIL
  • IMS (Ucompass Educator) functionality
  • ISRS connections
  • Integration of outside content into modules
• Consider feature set:
  • Channel selection/subscription
  • Page arrangement
  • Design options
• Build prototype
  • Test
  • Deploy pilot (May 3)
  • Add features
• Roll out release version (August)

Teambuilding process

• Identify stakeholders
  • Groups: students, faculty, staff
  • Organizations: colleges, departments, offices, programs
• Set up task force
  • collect design-phase data
  • evaluate needs, technologies, options, costs
  • identify funding sources
  • draft and communicate plan
• Assign members to work groups
  1. Project oversight (resources, technical,database, etc.)
  2. Constituent buy-in/campus support (communication)
  3. Content features (modules, key functionality; priorities)
  4. Navigation and design (overall look and feel)
  5. Portal usability