This project stresses the importance of implementing and practicing the iterative design process which is to design, prototype, evaluate and repeat the process

As a continuous improvement effort for student success, college web managers and the SIS Advisory Group requested an evaluation of my.maricopa.edu take place for redesign efforts to address challenges expressed to them related to the difficulty students had with account creation and the enrollment process.   The primary role identified by these two teams was to redesign my.maricopa.edu to support enrollment and retention by improving the overall student experience.  DSSC’s Web Manager began the process by conducting student usability testing to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current design.   Along with data gathered from site analytics, Help Desk reports, interviews and meetings with front-line support teams as well as various councils, the SIS Advisory Group and Academic and Student Affairs enabled the development of a new site draft.  DSSC’s Web Manager shared that; “Redesigning the site to look better is the easy part.  The hard part is making sure students can accomplish essential tasks such as creating or discovering their MEID, finding and completing the SIF form, and finding their student email, etc.  In order to improve that experience, we have to change how the site is organized — the navigation for example.  Without a true portal we are limited to what we can do, but there are some things we can definitely improve upon until we get one“.  In addition to the redesign, a content management system will be implemented which will better enable content owners all over MCCCD to manage their information and, more importantly, collaborate with one another.

Go Live
The draft site is nearly ready for review again by various college and DSSC groups for feedback. Student usability tests at two or more college sites have yet to be scheduled.  The plan is to have all feedback incorporated into the site design for a soft launch in mid-April 2011 with a go-live date of May 23, 2011.

The my.maricopa.edu redesign project delivers a long-term strategy that prioritizes continuous quality improvement.  It also stresses the importance of implementing and practicing the iterative design process which is to design, prototype, evaluate and repeat the process.  It is a true One Maricopa effort. 

Special thanks to Thom Saudargas of  DSSC ITS and Jeanette Stephens of DSSC Marketing
for contributing this article

Click here to see an Index of common ITS acronyms

DSSC and College ITS Teams implemented a new directory in September 2009. In collaboration and agreement with all college CIMS (College Identity Management System) leadership teams, password guidelines were established and should be adhered to. Colleges should check with their IT Leadership or help desk for additional information and questions regarding these changes. Passwords are the keys that unlock system access. It is the user’s responsibility to keep a password confidential. MCCCD will never ask you for your password. While MCCCD takes reasonable measures to ensure network security, it cannot be held accountable for unauthorized access to its technology resources by other users, both within and outside the MCCCD community (Technology Resource Standards).

Passwords are often described as complex. A definition of a Complex Password Policy* means:

• the password is at least six (6) characters long

• the password contains characters from three (3) of the following four (4) categories:

o Uppercase characters (A, B, C…)

o Lowercase characters (a, b, c…)

o Numerals (0, 1, 2, 3…)

o Non-alphanumeric and Unicode characters known as symbols (*, &, @…)

• the password does not contain three (3) or more consecutive characters from the user’s account or display name.

Employee Accounts

MCCCD Employees have increased access to systems and sensitive information therefore requiring higher degrees of password strength. The password guidelines for all employees, adjunct faculty and persons of interest such as dual enrollment, temporary services, and consultants are:

a.       8 character minimum

b.      5 hour minimum password age – the password cannot be changed again for 5 hours after the latest change

c.       180 day maximum password age (employees will be sent an email reminder when password expiration nears)

d.      Complex* passwords are required

e.      5-use password history (limiting re-use of passwords)

f.        IT Services Bulletin CIMS Password Policies Page 2

g.       10 bad password lockout threshold (after 10 unsuccessful attempts, account will be locked)

h.      Account will remain locked for 5 minutes

i.         5 hour minimum password age – the password cannot be changed again for 5 hours after the latest change

Service Entity Accounts

Phase I – Service Entity Accounts are related to a department such as payroll, wellness, help desk and on-line faculty accounts (for some colleges). Password rules will be the same as the student policy (no password expiration) during CIMS go-live project.

Phase II - Password rules will be the same as Employee noted above. Dates have not yet

been determined for Phase II.

Student Accounts

Students have limited access to personal information. The new password guidelines for all students are:

a.       8 character minimum

b.      Complex* passwords are required

c.       Passwords will not expire

d.      5-use password history

e.      10 bad password lockout threshold (after 10 unsuccessful attempts, account will be

f.        locked)

g.       Account will remain locked for 15 minutes

h.      Account lockout will be observed for 15 minutes

Service Accounts

Service Accounts are related to high-level system processing such as batch jobs, backup, etc.  The new password guidelines for all service accounts are:

a.       14 character minimum

b.      10 minute minimum password age

c.       Passwords will not expire

d.      Complex* passwords are required

e.      Passwords will not expire

f.        24-use password history

g.       Account lockouts will be disabled

Sensitive Accounts

Sensitive accounts are personal user accounts with access to broad and detailed view of personal information systems such as SIS and HRMS and may/may not become subject to regulatory requirements for information systems. The new password guidelines for all sensitive accounts are:

a.       10 character minimum

b.      1 hour minimum password age

c.       180 day maximum password age

d.      Complex* passwords are required

e.      Passwords will not expire

f.        5-use password history

g.       10 bad password lockout threshold (after 10 unsuccessful attempts, account will be locked)

h.      Account will remain locked for 5 minutes

i.         Account lockout will be observed for 5 minutes

Special thanks to Miguel Corzo of  DSSC ITS for contributing this content
Click here to see an Index of common ITS acronyms

MCCCD implemented Benefits Administration self-service during Open Enrollment in the spring of 2010.  This new administration tool allows employees to update their benefit elections during the annual Open Enrollment period.  Using the delivered PeopleSoft HRMS self-service features (with very minimal customizations), employees can now update their own benefit elections online from work or at home.

The implementation of this project aligns with 21st Century Maricopa recommendations to reduce customizations and standardize processes as well as eliminating significant Benefits department staff hours in the process.

This project was successfully completed without the need for additional funding requests by utilizing existing Benefits and ITS staff.  By replacing what was a paper-based process with HRMS self-service and email notification, the online Open Enrollment will eliminate aapproximately 4,400 manual employee enrollments every April.  Those employee enrollments account for almost 40,000 benefit elections per year.

MCCCD will continue to evaluate self-service functionality available through the Benefits Administration module, including Event Maintenance (marriages, births, adoptions, etc.).

Special thanks to Steve Goozdich of DSSC ITS for contributing this article

Click here to see an Index of common ITS acronyms

Blackboard Mobile Learn is a new extension to Blackboard that brings the Blackboard Learning Management System to mobile devices.  Mobile Learn is designed to work with smart phones and tablets, like the iPhone and iPad.  The Mobile Learn application is designed to recognize the device it is running on and then present the Blackboard application to the user, taking as much advantage of the device as it can.

Blackboard Mobile Learn 2 has just been released and is greatly improved over V1 using more of the Blackboard features from the mobile device.

Support is a potential challenge since some devices are only supported on specific cell provider networks.  While Blackboard still has a way to go before it brings all of the functionality of the Learning Management System to mobile devices, Blackboard Mobile Learn seems to be headed in the right direction.

Special thanks to Dave Fraedrich of DSSC ITS for contributing this article

Click here to see an Index of common ITS acronyms