No More Paper,
No More Stamps:
Targeted myWSU
Communications
Lavon R. Frazier
April 27, 2005
Copyright Lavon R. Frazier, 2005. This work is the intellectual property of the author.
Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes,
provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given
that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish
requires written permission from the author.
1
Overview of WSU
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Research university
22,000+ students
Four campuses
Multiple learning centers
Distance degree program
2
WSU Campus Locations
~DDP~
Spokane
Pullman
Vancouver
Tri-Cities
3
Presentation Outline

Business Problem

Business Solution

Related Policies

Notices Demo

Technical Overview

Problems and Plans
4
Presentation Outline

Business Problem
5
Business Problem
Better means of
communication!
6
Business Requirements
Needed mechanism to:
 communicate information to
specified audiences
 enable faculty to communicate
with students in their classes
 officially notify individuals of
status, etc.
7
More Requirements
Needed electronic communication
mechanism that was:
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easier to maintain than mailing lists
more secure than e-mail
able to assure & track delivery
less costly than USPS
more timely delivery than USPS
or campus mail
8
Opportunity
WSU was developing the
myWSU web portal
as part of our vision for a
“seamless, integrated, intuitive
information environment”
9
Solution
Targeted Notices
Facility
in
myWSU
10
Presentation Outline

Business Problem

Business Solution
11
Targeted Notices Facility
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Uses target recipient groups
In secured portal web space
Delivery based on WSU network-id
Electronic, not paper and stamps
Available for immediate delivery
12
Notices Information Flow
myWSU
Notice
Sender
Create
Notices
Manage
Notices
Database
Notices
Sender
Authorizations
Target
Groups
View
Notices
myWSU
Notice
Recipient
Manage
Subscriptions
13
Sender Authorizations

Automatically authorized
to classes
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Administrator authorized
to subscription groups
to own area

Default authorization
to individuals
14
Target Groups
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Automatically populated
class enrollments
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Self-service subscriptions
role, campus, colleges, VP areas
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Administrator managed
President’s Cabinet
15
Targeting Individuals

Ad-hoc targeting
manual id entry
data warehouse query results
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Programmatic targeting
notice feeds
16
Presentation Outline

Business Problem

Business Solution

Related Policies
17
e-Correspondence Policy
“Electronic correspondence shall be
one of the authorized means of
communication from Washington
State University to students, faculty,
staff, and other constituents.”
18
Appropriate Security
“All University electronic
correspondence that contain
individually identifiable confidential
or operational information must be
sent via secure mechanisms that
ensure message authenticity,
confidentiality and integrity.”
19
Appropriate Use
“University electronic correspondence
may be used only to meet academic
instruction, research, public service,
and administrative needs of the
University.”
20
Sender Responsibility
In help text:
“Note: to avoid the perception of
myWSU notices as spam, it is
essential for you to consider the
needs of your audience, and that
the targeting and frequency of your
notices reflect such consideration.”
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Recipient Responsibility
“Just as they are responsible for any
printed correspondence that is delivered
by non-electronic means, faculty, staff and
students are responsible for all
information sent to them via Universityprovided electronic correspondence
delivery mechanisms. …that would be
received and read in a timely fashion.”
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Presentation Outline

Business Problem

Business Solution

Related Policies

Notices Demo
23
Notice Recipient Functions
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Notices alert
New notices list
Notices in-box and viewer
Campus announcements
Subscriptions alert
Manage subscriptions
Subscriptions list
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Notice Sender Functions
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Create notices
– three targeting methods
– four notice styles
– four handling options
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Manage notices
– search and display
– delivery statistics
– target additional recipients
– change effective dates
– stop further delivery
25
Presentation Outline

Business Problem

Business Solution

Related Policies

Notices Demo

Technical Overview
26
Portal Environment
Redhat Enterprise Linux, J2EE
https
F5 SSL
Accelerator
http
Oracle
Portal
Oracle
Internet
Directory
Oracle 9i
Application
Server
Oracle
DB
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Legacy Systems Interface
Legacy
DB
(Adabas)
Legacy
Systems
class sections
enrollments
Legacy: MVS, Natural, Adabas
Portal
Trans.
(Adabas)
Attunity
Connect
Portal: Linux, Oracle
SQL
Notices
DB
(Oracle)
recipient groups
Synch
Process
28
Legacy Systems Interface
RONet
DB
(SQL Server)
RONet
SQL
Attunity
Connect
Portal
Trans.
(Adabas)
instructors, academic support staff
Legacy: Windows Server 2003
Portal: Linux,
Oracle
OID
(LDAP)
Attunity
Connect
SQL
Notices
DB
(Oracle)
Synch
Process
29
Notice Feeds
Any
DB
Batch
or Online
Process
XML, FTP
Any environment
Portal: Linux, Oracle
Notice delivery
via myWSU
Oracle
XML DB
Notice
Creation
notices
recipients
Notices
DB
(Oracle)
30
Presentation Outline

Business Problem

Business Solution

Related Policies

Notices Demo

Technical Overview

Problems and Plans
31
Problems Encountered
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Huge developer learning curve
Slow adoption by senders
Lack of recipient awareness
– ignoring subscriptions
– not opening notices
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System instability
Notice feed implementation
32
Work in Progress
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Notice feed enhancements
Distributed group
administration
33
Planned Enhancements
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Automated records retention
Purge and archive functions
Accessibility issues
34
For Further Information ...
[email protected]
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