AACC releases updated online portal

AACC+will+release+a+new+version+of+the+MyAACC+portal+on+March+8.

Photo courtesy of Strategic Communications

AACC will release a new version of the MyAACC portal on March 8.

Sam Gauntt and Dan Elson

AACC will launch an updated MyAACC portal for students, faculty and staff starting on March 8.

Users can customize their homepage on the updated portal with the MyAACC resources they use most frequently.

The new portal includes approximately 45 display cards for users to choose from. For example, students might populate their homepages with cards containing links to registration, financial aid or student engagement.

Student email and links to Self Services and Canvas are fixed on every user’s homepage.

“I’m just really excited about just the ease of use of it,” said Amanda Sachs, the 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 still be accessible until April 3, when the new portal will become the sole option.

The college last redesigned the MyAACC 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The college remade the portal because the old version is outdated, Sachs said.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 ourselves forward.”

First-year nursing 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 card to help folks.”

First-year aerospace engineering student Jered Simmons said the revamped 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.