After a semester’s wait, we’ve been left wanting more from of our new and improved “portal.”
In last spring’s story, Launch date confirmed for new, effective portal system, Robert Clark, vice president of administration and institutional effectiveness, said. “In the first and second year the cost is $29,500 and in the third through fifth year the cost is going to be $20,000.”
Though I applaud the effort and the thought behind the portal system, the cost has not yet proven worth it.
Touted as a one-stop shop for the student’s online login needs, the portal is not what it was originally sold to be.
Students across the MSU campus have been confused by the cumbersome and cluttered system.
The my.mwsu.edu website is really more of an aggregate of previous websites, with links to each.
I have to say, it is nice to have Desire2Learn, the newish system used by professors and students for class communication, and WebWorld, the online registration, financial aid, and employee site, in one place.
Though the two are easily accessible from the portal webpage, many times while logging in I have been given “timed out” error messages.
Talking with other students, this seems to be a common error.
The idea was to make it as easy as possible for the students to access their information online, but the outcome has been the opposite.
I would much rather see the money invested in new equipment and hardware in the computer labs as opposed to one website that links to three other older websites.
