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Penn State’s Interactive Advising System:
Exceeding Expectations Through the Web
CUMREC 2001Phoenix, Arizona
Today’s Presentation
The development philosophy and background
Demonstration of services
Development Challenges
Vision Statement
Students to participate in informed educational planning.
Faculty to deliver active learning.
Advisers to provide exemplary service.
Staff to operate effectively and efficiently.
Alumni to maintain a life-long relationship.
The Web will provide the ability for:
Collaboration – the Key to Success
Executive level sponsorship
Senior level governance team
Expert content specialists
Standards based, collaborative application development
Institutional Complexity
Expanded facilities, services, programs
Manage enrollment growth
Complexity of degree requirements
Complex academic policies
Student responsibility in their own decisions
Student Characteristics
Unrealistic expectations - grades, study hours, study skills
Uncertainty concerning choice of major
Non-traditional students
Academics, not administrative details
Students as consumers – expect timely, complete, consistent, accurate information
Faculty Characteristics
Unable to stay current with policies, procedures, requirements
Perception that advising includes much “red tape”
Minimal training and resources
Minimal recognition for advising activities
Development Timetable
Vision - May 1994
Prototype - November 1996
“Quiet Phase” - March 1997
Production Release 1 - August 1997
Subsequent production releases approximately every 6 months
Expert System Approach
REASONS
T I M I N G
ALTERNATIVES
O U T C O M E S
Required Outcomes
Reliability – available, repeatable, dependable
Consistent – fair, unbiased, “best of class”
Accurate – clearly communicated
Scalable – economical to grow and expand
Not bounded by time or place
Demonstration
On the web ateLion.psu.edu
Development Challenges
Staffing Issues
Technical Issues
Design and Implementation Issues
Staffing Issues
Shortage of IT professionals
Retaining qualified IT staff
Learning new tools and the Smalltalk language
Lack of Smalltalk mentors
Technical Issues
Scalability
Stability and Reliability
Availability
Accessibility
Security
Monitoring and Diagnostic Tools
(WebSphere Performance Pack)
EnterpriseData Server
(IBM MVS Mainframe)
SecurityServers(Sun - Solaris)
eLionDatabase Servers
(Windows-NT Pentium)(Windows SQL Server)
Other WebServers
WebBrowser
Web/ApplicationServers
(Windows-NT Pentium)
(Netscape Enterprise Server)
s s ss ….
SecurityProxy
(WebKerb.dll)(Kerb95.dll)
s s
MandarinI-Face
(WebComm.dll)
s
m m….
…..
eLionLOAD
BALANCERS(Windows - NT Pentium)
eLion Technical Architecture
m
WebBrowser(Win 3.1)
(SSL)
(SSL)
(HTTP)
(CUSSP)(KERBEROS)
(SQL)
WebBrowser(Win 95)
WebBrowser(Win NT)
WebBrowser(MAC)
WebBrowser(UNIX)
WebBrowser(Other)
80,000 Clients
(SSL)
#1
#6
#1#2
(Visual-Wave Server)
Design and Implementation Issues
Change of focus -staff-oriented to customer-
oriented
Presentation standards
Formal procedures
Questions?
J. James Wager, [email protected] W. Thompson, [email protected]
Carol S. Findley, [email protected]
