Four years from now, when everyone reading this article will be alumni (hopefully), the relationship students have with Plymouth State College and the methods in which interactions with the college take place will be quite different than it is today. Though the system will not be completed until 2003, the changes have already begun.
The catalyst for this change is a twenty-year-old program known as People Oriented Information System for Education, or POISE. This is the program in which all student records are kept. When students register for classes, POISE is the reason for the incredible slowness through the system. This system has now been pushed beyond its resources and its retirement is long overdue. The new system that is replacing POISE is known as Banner. By 2003, Banner will be fully integrated into PSC.
In addition to Banner, Campus Pipeline, a portal application, will have an important impact at Plymouth State. It will effect how everyone conducts their business with PSC. This program will be put into action by next semester.
What is a portal system? It is a website to consolidate information. Instead of students accessing phone bills from one webpage, email from another page and WebCT classes from yet another, everything exists within a single website. Most students have experienced portal use with the current system called mySilas. This new portal will not initially be much different but it will evolve over time to include new web-based, PSC services and applications.
If we already have a portal system, why do we need a new one? The full capability of Campus Pipeline will not be experienced for a few years, however, in the long run it will be a good change for the college.
Expectations from this new addition to the service are already provided by PSC. Instead of logging in to mySilas next year, students will log into this new portal. MySilas will ultimately reside within this new portal, so that everything students currently access from there will be accessible through the new portal. One of the biggest benefits for students and alumni will be an increase in communication. Not only will students have access to this portal, but parents of students, as well as alumni, will be able to cultivate their relationships with the college.
The news and information that is received within the portal will be tailored to any given students role within the college. Therefore, undergraduate students will see undergraduate information, alumni will see alumni information, and so on. One of the long-term goals of this new portal is to create a closer community within PSC.
Another feature in this new portal system that students have not seen before is a calendaring system. All class schedules will be automatically loaded into this calendar. Information Technology Services (ITS) is currently researching the possibility of loading WebCT calendars into this system as well. Students will have access to the same system that the faculty and staff will use. This means that there is the potential for students to set up meetings with their professors or other students simply by checking their calendars. This calendaring system also has the capabilities to be synchronized with Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Students will then be able to digitally organize their lives and take it on the road with them with their Palm Pilots.
ITS is looking into the e-commerce capabilities within the Campus Pipeline system. In the future, students may be able to view class schedules and purchase textbooks with only a few clicks and a credit card number. Current and future alumni will also be able to order copies of transcripts in a similar manner. PSC has been on the forefront of the portal systems in higher education. With Campus Pipeline, the college will continue to be a leader in the field.
Since the portal is such an important application, ITS would like some help in naming your new portal. You can vote for the name of your portal at the following website: