Building a Personalized Education Portal: Get a Behind-the-Scenes Look at LSU's Award-Winning System

In 1996, Louisiana State University tapped the expertise of the Enterprise Solutions Group (ESG) and analysts from other departments within the Office of Computing Services (OCS) to build enterprise solutions that spanned the academic, research, and administrative requirements of the university. In response, OCS presented a portal application, Personal Access Web Services (PAWS), to the LSU community in September of 1997. In the year following its implementation, approximately 12,000 students, faculty, and staff requested access to this service. Today, almost three years later, more than 45,000 students, faculty, and staff are using PAWS accounts. PAWS offers enterprise, workgroup, and personal services. Enterprise services include access to the central university directory, electronic library reserves, midterm and final grades, current and potential degree program audits, and financial aid status. In addition, students can conduct homecoming elections, register for classes, and select meal and parking plans. Workgroup applications include a course content and communication management tool, a universitywide faculty newsletter, and the computer services help desk support center. Personal applications are e-mail, an electronic planner, and personal Web pages. Naturally, the PAWS suite continues to evolve. We are enhancing the course management tool to allow for online assessment and soon the registration process will allow for online credit card use. Also, the requirements for a Webbased sponsored-projects management system are being defined. Using this system, faculty will be able to create proposals, route them for approval, and submit them to sponsoring agencies—all online. Once a response has been received from the agency and a proposal is funded, the budget information will be automatically loaded to the sponsored project’s accounting system. The sponsored-projects management system will be the first of many workflow applications available through PAWS.