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Instead of several sign-on pages, a new Web portal will give the USF community one door to the university’s Web-based services. A prototype of the portal’s one sign-on page is seen above.
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USF Gets a Portal
In a move to streamline utilization of its Web-based resources, the University of San Francisco has bought an intranet application that will allow faculty, staff, and students an easy, accessible portal to online communication and a host of other capabilities.
Called “USF Connect,” the portal will require just one log-in and password from users to access tools for email, class registration, payment of fees, a comprehensive calendar, and teaching resources.
“Our goal is once you log in, you never have to log into anything else,” said Tracy Schroeder, Web and data coordinator in academic services. “Every service will be linked to the portal pages.”
What Schroeder and other members of the campus advisory committee overseeing the project envision are two Web sites, one for the campus community and one for the public. The campus community will use an internal Web site, or intranet, for a range of activities. Faculty can use it for posting grades, scheduling meetings, or even posting Web sites just for their classes. Students can use it to check their grades, register for classes, and for email (currently students use email accounts from a variety of sources), among other services. Staff will be able to communicate with students via the same streamlined email service and to post university-wide announcements, or to check on benefit-related or other personal information.
“Right now we have to use a variety of ways to communicate with students. We use voicemail, we write letters, we put up posters, we make announcements in classes, or we email,” said Rebecca Snider, coordinator of freshman programs. “I think [the portal] will definitely give us better communication with students and provide them with information all in one place.”
When a user logs on, the portal, or intranet home page will look something like a commercial site like AOL. There will be general announcements posted and a kind of “My News” tab that will only serve up information relevant to that specific user (it could come from their department or any other office on campus). Various columns on the home page could also be reserved for other kinds of information.
“[The intranet site] will be much more dynamic because we can serve up personal information and custom-built content on the portal pages,” Schroeder said. “Everything you need should be served to you.”
Phase one of USF Connect is scheduled for fall, meaning email, calendar, and Web-registration services should be in place. It could take two to three years, however, before the whole service is up and running. Schroeder said even online student quizzes and chat-room discussions could be in the works. Faculty could also track student postings on their class Web sites, to make sure everyone is participating.
“I think the product could and should be a huge benefit to the campus community,” Schroeder said. “I think the campus community has yet to envision all the possibilities.”
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