IT News
Student Input Impacts Information Technology Initiative IT Moves Forward with the Development of University Portal
June 21, 2023
During the creation of Information Technology’s Digital Transformation Strategy, it became evident that students, faculty, staff, and alumni regularly spend time in several different systems to perform simple tasks and receive important campus communications and would greatly benefit from one platform.
Additionally, IT heard from the student community through surveying and feedback that having one platform for connecting to resources and technology will increase access to important information throughout the university. As a result of all of this input, IT has been evaluating university portal vendors in order to meet this need.
Once implemented, the portal will give the GVSU community easy access to relevant information and enterprise systems. A well-developed university portal will integrate systems to allow for the aggregation and display of information from across many disparate systems. At launch, some of the most frequently used systems will be available. These include course schedules from Banner, grades, and assignments from Blackboard, as well as email and calendar from both Google and Outlook. In addition, there will be notifications and alerts, news, events, and more. After launch, more features will be added based on feedback and community needs.
During this review process, IT has worked with a variety of university departments to determine the best approach and vendor selection for the portal. Among the departments involved are Financial Aid, Records, Human Resources, Student Senate, the Office of Student Life, Housing, Alumni, and University Marketing.
It is anticipated that an initial version of the portal will be soft-launched in January 2024. During the first half of 2024, the community will be asked to provide ongoing feedback that will help shape the design and development of the portal. It is anticipated that the new portal will be launched for the entire university by the time students return to campus in the Fall of 2024.
You are encouraged to visit the Community Value Review page at https://www.gvsu.edu/it/vp/cvr-university-portal-89.htm and follow the portal's progress. If you would like more information or would like to get involved, please contact Nick Nelson [email protected].