These are notes from a talk by Gary Kuhlmann, Keith Warburg, Bobby Lacey and Ashley Williams titled “Building a DIY Student Portal from Scratch” during the HighEdWeb 2015. The Valdosta State University

The Problem

• had trouble keeping track of students
• disjointed systems for students
• Too many passwords across campus.
• hard to find services.
• biggest target was at-risk students; didn’t have a way to help them along except through their professors.

The Solution

• A way for students could access resources and services through one system.
• One login, then could jump off to other services.
• Used MS’s login page, then used some magic to also log into their new portal.
• Created “Ads” to help expose available services.

Peace
– KS
Web Developer at Benedictine University near Chicago