Posted February, 23,2001 StudentAffairs Online, 2 (Winter)
At colleges and universities across the country, a range offactors - such as increasing student populations, greater financialpressures on students, increased work schedules, and the expansion ofoff-campus housing alternatives - have all converged to profoundlyshape the strategy and execution of effective student affairsprograms. As a result of these shifting dynamics, the social fabricof the campus - what gives a college or university its owndistinctive flavor and culture - is under tremendous strain.
Technology: Dividing or Uniting?
The technology aspect of campuses also factors heavily intostudent affairs. America's colleges and universities have long beenin the vanguard of Internet adoption - long before corporate Americatook note. In fact, many campuses today are wired -- from residencehall rooms to offices to labs -- with high-bandwidth connections. Butthe rapid embrace of technology has also had an impact on the highlyvalued aspects of campus life and a sense of community throughout thecollege or university. Colleges thrive on the free exchange of ideas,passionate discourse, campus sports, activities, and involvement ofall members of the community.
Anxious to prevent their student populations from splintering intosmall groups of MP3-ripping, laptop-toting, Web-surfing,e-mail-reading isolationists, college administrators are looking fornew ways to continue to foster a sense of community and keep thethriving campus hubs alive - especially so, since the traditionalcampus-bound student is less prevalent.
For many institutions of higher learning, the solution is to usethese same computer technologies to unite - rather than divide --people. The central principle is to create an online campus intranetcommunity that offers information, news, and an opportunity tointeract that engages the entire college community -- students,faculty, and administration. These virtual communities - or campusportals - offer the ability for all students to stay in touch withfellow classmates, faculty and staff, from any location at any time.They are also valuable tools for the administration, savingadministrators time and money, while keeping them fully engaged withtheir constituents.
The following user case study demonstrates how one such school hassuccessfully deployed a secure, password-protected campus portal fortheir students.
Providence College: Greater Sense of Community
Providence College, a four-year private college of the liberalarts and sciences, believes that its commitment to studentsatisfaction and a vibrant campus environment meant thatcommunication among faculty, students, and staff should be a toppriority for the institution.
Providence deployed a secure campus portal service in the fall of1999 through an outsourced provider. "We were excited that we coulddeploy something 'out-of-the-box' that would add value to ourstudents right away," said Providence's executive director ofcomputer services, Becky Ramos. Not only is the service available toall of its 3,600 undergraduates, but to its faculty and staff aswell.
Since its initial launch, the Providence community has been quickto embrace the portal - but without burdening the college's ITdepartment. Currently, more than 70 percent of Providence undergradsuse the service. However, the IT group reports little impact oneither its staff resources or network bandwidth consumption.
Previously, if a Providence professor needed to send a message tojunior biology majors, it required the IT group to send a message toall juniors. In an average week, the college's servers would process40,000-50,000 e-mails for "broadcast messages." Providence's campusportal service now enables the school to send targeted messages thatare relevant to recipients. As a result, groups and clubs have easierand better communication. This new service replaces the individuale-mail lists that club or association presidents might have to buildor maintain - and eliminates the need for paper flyers and telephonechains as well.
The momentum for Providence College's campus portal is so strongthat its undergraduate Student Congress passed a resolutionencouraging faculty to use it as the primary means for communicatingwith students.
Summary
For college administrators and deans seeking to ramp up theirstudent affairs programs, an online campus portal offers a compellingopportunity to reach out to all members of the campus community,increasing student satisfaction and retention.
However, in turning to online communities, many administrators arequickly learning that there's more to the decision than simplycobbling together a Web server and a few links. A campus portalserving the needs of student affairs must be interactive, fosteringcommunication among all constituents of the school, and it must besecure. College administrators must also carefully consider otherchallenges before building one's own portal: