MyConcordia gets an upgrade
The portal will now be accessible from your iPad and other tablet devices. | Photo by Concordia University
On June 2, the MyConcordia portal is getting a much-needed upgrade.
The improvements to the eight-year-old portal software and the servers on which it runs are expected to enhance performance and stability, especially during peak usage times.
The portal has also undergone cosmetic changes, including an updated visual design and information architecture. The navigation has been cleaned up and streamlined by doing away with obsolete links and redundancies.
“In addition to updating the technology, the portal is now more application-based,” says Alex Aragona, director of application portfolio management at Instructional and Information Technology Services (IITS). “We’ve eliminated duplicate links among the portal, Cspace and the public site, making information easier to find.”
Top 4 changes
Although you may not notice a whole lot of change to the new site, here’s a quick look at some of the tweaks that will likely be more obvious.
- The portal is now accessible from your tablet.
- Job postings, the directory of personnel, Photofinder, as well as information on the libraries, no longer appear on the portal as they currently reside on Cspace and/or on the public website.
- Links have been regrouped according to topic so information is easier to find.
- From a visual design perspective, the masthead colour was updated and font size increased, thereby making content easier to read.
Part of a bigger picture
From the recent Moodle upgrade and purchase of digital cinema equipment to Eduroam and Office 365 ProPlus, the portal upgrade is one of many projects aimed at ensuring technology at Concordia constantly evolves.
“This upgrade is really just one piece of a much larger picture. It is a part of the university’s commitment to delivering top-notch technology and services that are the most useful to our faculty, staff and students,” says Marc Denoncourt, associate vice-president of Information Systems and chief information officer.
The upgraded hardware and software is in line with the new Student Information System (SIS), which is based on a packaged software platform from Oracle called PeopleSoft Campus Solutions.
The SIS, which supports virtually all key business functions and processes across the university (e.g., recruitment, admissions, enrolment), is being upgraded to improve access to vital services and information for faculty, staff and students.
Read more about the SIS project.