SVSU Web portal created

September 12, 2005 —

SVSU is following the web portal feature utilized by Yahoo! with the introduction of the "My SVSU" feature on the SVSU Web site.

It helps to personalize and simplify an individual's Web experience by making certain things across the Internet accessible just by a click of the mouse. It functions similar to the My Yahoo! homepage in the sense that the user will no longer have to navigate the entire SVSU Web site to access certain features.

My SVSU is a project developed by Ken Schindler, executive director of Information Technology Services, and constructed by T.J. Patterson, a student systems administrator/ programmer, over the last six months. Originally, it was conceived as an experiment to divide the functionality aspect of the SVSU homepage from the marketing aspect of the homepage.

"The portal was conceived to appeal to both students and staff/faculty as a way to get things done faster and more efficiently," Patterson says. "The portal has also proven useful as a central access point to the University when working off campus."

Made available on My SVSU are links to most of the widely used student services that the University offers to students. With a click of the mouse students can connect to Blackboard, CardMail, Cardinal Direct, and even Netstorage. In addition to these services students can find local weather sponsored by weather.com, campus news, and access Google's search engine.

My SVSU is still in its infancy at version 1.5, so it offers limited customization right now. A preferred startup page for the portal and color options can be changed. Other customizations and features will be added in the future.

Schindler advises students and staff/faculty alike to offer comments and suggestions for the improvement of the My SVSU Web portal. User feedback will greatly determine what new additions are made to My SVSU in the future. Schindler also asks that all feedback be sent to schindle@svsu.edu.

For those interested in exploring the use of My SVSU, it can be reached at my.svsu.edu.