With the Office of Information Technology’s Rufus Initiative under way, Ohio University students will be able to access their personalized My OHIO accounts by Fall Quarter of the coming year.
Some will be introduced to the new portal this week, as the financial aid office will use it to communicate with students about their FAFSA information.
The new My OHIO webpage will allow students to access the bursar, registrar, Catmail and Blackboard from their Student Centers. Even the university calendar and local weather forecast will be a simple click away from the homepage.
“This is intended to become the main way the university interacts with its students,” said Sean O’Malley, Information Technology communications manager.
The Office of Information Technology has switched its software providers from INFORMS, which is going out of business, to PeopleSoft after having students, staff and faculty evaluate potential alternatives.
“We’re going from a hodge-podge of information to a unified, modern solution,” Brice Bible, chief information officer, said.
At my.ohio.edu, each student can customize his or her My OHIO pages. After signing in with an OHIO ID, previously called an OAK, they can move things around, add tabs and personalize the page to their interests.
Some colleges within the university have added a tab of their own for easier communication between students and staff.
OU introduced 2011-12 applicants to the system in September, adding an admissions tab to each of their Student Centers where they can see the status of their applications. The “to-do checklist” in the right column notifies the applicant of missing documents and other potential issues.
After the application is processed, the status is updated with a green checkmark or red “X.” With the click of a button, applicants can accept or decline their admittance to OU.
OU’s financial aid is currently using the portal to communicate with students about FASFA information for the coming year. Just last week, about 8,000 awards letters were sent to incoming freshmen. This week, current students will be notified via email about their processed FAFSAs.
“It’s the time of the year when we need to tell students if we need additional documentation from them such as their tax forms or their W-2s and in previous years, we put that on our custom site,” said Jill Lallier, the functional lead for student financial aid. “Now we’re all in one place, together in the Student Center, so we’re going to be rooting them to the portal.”
The “to-do checklist” will inform students of upcoming fees and disbursements, and eAccounts can be accessed straight from the Student Center. Soon, students will be able to access the bursar, financial aid and MyHousing at any time under the “accounts” tab.
“Once we get further down the line, students will be able to see all their information themselves whenever they want, they don’t have to wait until the office opens at 8 in the morning,” Lallier said.
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