CSU looks to combine web services
The funds collected from the $15 technology fee students are now
paying each semester will be used to finance the Campus Portal
Project, which aims to combine RAMweb, Webmail and WebCT into one
Web site.
The portal should be available to students during the 2004-2005
academic year.
Brandi Johnson, chairperson of the University Technology Fee
Advisory Board, said the Portal Project includes a one-time cost of
$682,000 that was paid for by CSU, and additional incremental costs
of $390,000, which will be split between the university and the
student technology fee.
“The idea is that you go into one place on the web and we try
and consolidate as many things as we can that students would be
interested in knowing about the university, and also fun stuff,”
said Linda McNamara, associate director of the Academic Computing
and Networking Services.
According to the Campus Portal Project Web site the portal is a
step above regular Web sites because it will recognize students
upon login and present them with information useful to their
university affairs.
“There will be targeted announcements, communication tools for
committees and student clubs,” said Johnson, a senior marketing
major, via e-mail.
The portal will be created in phases, with Phase One occurring
this spring. The first phase will involve creating a basic
framework on which the portal can be built. Phase Two, which will
take place this summer, will consist of testing the portal before
it is made available to students sometime the following academic
year.
“It’s important to realize the portal and portal contents will
grow over the next few years,” according to the Web site.
Future additions will include a personal calendar, personal
digital assistant syncing and distributed content specific to
colleges, Johnson said.
“Students can put all their information on a calendar and access
it from this portal. We want to link things like the calendar back
to your class schedule so when you register for classes it would
automatically update your electronic calendar,” McNamara said.
She said the portal might eventually include everything from
live video feed to information about community events in Fort
Collins. It will also offer account management for students
reminding them of any unpaid bills from tuition to parking
tickets.
“The idea with the portal is: think of it sort of as the front
door to all the electronic web services you might need while you’re
at the university,” McNamara said.
Johnson said the University Technology Fee Advisory Board
supported the portal not only because it will improve online
options for students, but also because it will replace the
out-dated Student Information Systems, the service currently
used.
“It will upgrade some software that we’ve had that’s been very
old and give us a chance to put all of the resources together in a
more organized fashion and let students personalize,” McNamara
said. “Students will have a lot more control over what they see and
the things they have on their web page.”
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