Diane Barbour, Rochester Institute of Technology
Mary Doyle, Washington State University
Lori Temple, University of Nevada Las Vegas
Community Source
- “Community source development” is open source development with a defined set of users. The Campus EAI project delivers community source code created by a consortium of institutions and available for their use.
Benefits
- Depository to exchange, develop, distribute, and contribute.
- Knowledge base of searchable articles by consortium and by members.
- Forums for discussion by members.
- Reduced development, testing, and training costs.
- Depository of portlets.
- Problem escalation assistance with Oracle.
Rochester Institute of Technology
Path to Oracle Portal
- Had been using Prometheus (portal and courseware by GWU), now discontinued.
- Discovered Campus EAI Oracle Grant.
- Recognized advantages of consortium.
myRIT CampusEAI Deployment
- Viewed as a campus-wide communications initiative, not just as an IT project.
- Primarily oriented to prospective and current students.
- Courseware, groups, public events calendar.
- Challenges: ActiveDirectory (group management), discussion groups (not yet available in new environment), user interface. Dedicated people to project for migration.
Phase Two
- The right information to the right people at the right time.
- Role-based (by tab) with more services for other constituencies.
- Integration of enterprise systems: SIS, Bursar, Registrar, Payroll.
- Students want one-stop-shop.
- Tabs: Home, myLife, myAcademics, myFinances, myHousing, myMessages
- Modules.
- myLife: calendar, music, blogs, clubs, jobs.
- myAcademics: records, registration, courses.
- myFinances: food/flex, financial aid, billing information.
- myHousing: dorm events, services, room layout designer.
- myMessages: central location for alerts and general announcements.
Lessons Learned
- Include feedback link on every page … and listen.
- Persistent log-in is required.
- Students want more control.
- Need gatekeeper for announcements.
- Need dynamic content and new features.
- Need champions and constituencies from throughout the institution.
- Vendor viability and support issues.
- Involve students a lot.
- Seeing is believing: having a pilot made it easier to understand for non-technical staff.
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Phases, Plans, Preparedness, Partnership, Paths, Pitfalls, Parables
Pre-portal Phases
- 2001 – Started with Mascot.com, which failed.
- Early 2003 – IT meets with Student Life to reset expectations.
- Mid 2003 UNLV applies for CampusEAI grant.
New Expectations
- Provide a single graphical interface.
- Support a single sign-on.
- Provide a basic framework.
- Provide communications services.
- Provide “one-stop” access.
- Enable user customization.
- Retain full control of the portal.
- Technology that is not proprietary.
- Be free of commercialization.
Initial Steps
- Set a primary focus (students).
- Set a primary objective (communication).
- Gather or secure resources.
Portal Preparedness/Current Context
- Very old legacy systems.
- Minimal but growing Oracle experience.
- Repeated failures to deliver on expectations.
Partnership – Consortium
Go with strengths, find like-minded institutions.
- Participate in steering committees.
- Influence technology directions.
- Guide depository development.
- Develop for the depository (connector portlet for WebCT).
Parallel Paths – Cultivating the Culture
- No plans to displace current Web efforts.
- Portal project has big vision, but narrow initial scope.
Parallel Paths – Managing Expectations
- Form commitment to tie identity management to portal development.
- Mitigate frustration with interim communication mechanisms.
Challenges
- Managing expectations.
- Lack of identity management infrastructure.
- Capturing staff time (partial resources).
- Hiring staff with needed skills.
Lessons Learned
- Balance end goals with immediate needs.
- Be mindful of campus culture.
- Stay the course and be ready to augment the effort.
- Go with strengths (Oracle, WebCT).
- Share the load.
Washington State University
Current Status
- Strong graphic identity program.
- Existing Oracle expertise.
WSU Contributions
- Notices portlet.
- Classes portlet.
- Planning committee leadership.
- Technical committee leadership.
- Shared technical vision.
- Gather or secure resources.
Expectations
- Page group functionality.
- Distributed portal group administration.
- Vertical navigation.
Tabs/Modules
- myInfoCenter – Business transactions.
- myInterests – Personal space.
Challenges
- What to do about content management.
- Oracle versioning (9i to 10g).
- University graphic identity.
- Scalability.
- Staff development.
- Understanding CSS.