College releases new MyAACC portal setup

Sam Gauntt Managing Editor

Dan Elson Sports Editor

AACC launched an updated MyAACC portal for students, faculty and staff on March 8.

Users can customize their homepage on the updated portal with links to MyAACC resources they use most and add links from outside the college if they want.

The new portal includes more than 30 display cards for users to choose from. For example, students might pop- ulate their homepages with cards containing links to registration, financial aid or student engagement.

Links to student emails, Self Services and Canvas are permanently fixed on the homepage.

“I’m just really excited about just the ease of use of it,” said Amanda Sachs, AACC’s web service team leader. “As well as the customization for people to be able to have the information that they want to see when they log in, instead of trying to scroll through … all of this, and then find what you’re looking for.”

The redesign process began in September. The old MyAACC portal will be accessible until April 3, when the new portal will become the sole option.

The college last redesigned the portal in May 2013, according to Sachs.

The college remade the portal because the old version is outdated, Sachs said.

“It’s an effort of modernization of our applications that we support,” Sachs said. “The existing MyAACC … was no longer going to be supported. … And this was the most logical step to moving much clearer. You can see so much better. … It really sets us apart.”

Deborah Levine, an astronomy professor and a faculty adviser for the Super

Science Club, agreed that the 14-inch model “does give a more detailed view. It does allow us to observe some things that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to.”

AACC launches an updated MyAACC portal with customization options.

Photo courtesy of Amanda Sachs ourselves forward.”

First-year nursing student Muriel Meboe said she’s “always open for change. So if they think it’s going to be cool, why not?”

Sachs said during the design phase the portal got “a really good response [from students and faculty] across the board. And the feedback that we did get, where there was difficulty, we tweaked some of the language on the cards to help folks.”

First-year aerospace engineering student Jered Simmons said the new portal “looks easier to see things.”

Meboe noted it’s important for the college to stay up to date on technology.

“We are in education, and we’re always striving for knowledge [and] better technology,” Meboe said.