Glossary

BGSU has received a $1,087,450 grant from CampusEAI to implement an enterprise portal at the university. The grant spans five years and consists of Campus EAI/Oracle software and services. CampusEAI (Enterprise Application Integration) supports collaboration of colleges and universities for developing, distributing and sharing software applications.

That collaboration is at the heart of BGSU's grant, in which it is partnered with Case Western Reserve, Washington State and Virginia Commonwealth universities, as well as the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. The member institutions will develop "portlets" consistent with industry standards for use on their own web portals. These portlets will then be shared with other Campus EAI members through a common online depository. BGSU's contribution to the portlet depository will involve digital video capabilities.

The BGSU community was first introduced to a portal in 2001 with the implementation of the Blackboard portal. The distance learning opportunities available via Blackboard wil continue under the implementation of the enterprise portal. "It's time to go to the next level in terms of portal implementation" stated Bruce Petryshak, chief information officer at BGSU, "with the Campus EAI portal we will be able to provide a single sign on solution and offer information and service resources that can be customized for individual users." Based on the user sign on, the information presented can be personalized to fit each user's needs. A staff member who authenticates will see information and services tailored to his or her needs. These services and resources will be different than the resources presented to a prospective student who accesses the portal.

Project plans have been developed and the implementation team has been assembled. Initial implementation of the enterprise portal is scheduled for August 2005.