MATC has a new website portal, aptly named My MATC, set for an October 1st release.

You may be thinking it’ll add more passwords and security questions to your already impressive load of memorized personal info; but not to worry. 

Before you start expelling old phone numbers from your brain to make room, this site actually boasts the ability to make life easier for you. 

The MATC Portal is the product of a partnership between Microsoft and Ellucian, a company which dedicates itself to helping education institutions through new technology-as well as a team effort from MATC Vice President of Student Services Trevor Kubatzke, Student Life Director Archie Graham, and the IT department.

Vice President Kubatzke has an IT background and has been involved with the development of portals at two other schools. He has provided focus on making our portal into a tool specifically for MATC students. 

Of the collaborative effort Kubatzke said, “I have to say, our IT staff was 80 percent of the way there when I got here; so it was just [a matter of] putting focus on it and getting it done, because it is a tool for our students.”

Meanwhile, Graham has kept his focus on how the new site addresses student issues and concerns. “What we’re trying to do during the first week of October, maybe the last week in September, is to try to educate students that now we’ve created a system where they go to one website, My MATC, which is their portal. That will give them access so they don’t have to come up with four different passwords, four different logins-you go to one,” Graham said. 

Graham said of the new format, “Why not have one doorway to see all windows rather than going into different doors?” 

  The portal has some exciting features with the main goal being organization of student life. 

It will provide a calendar that will not only store important school dates and appointments but also personal dates. 

You can input your work schedule or daycare times and, come next semester, it will allow you to find the perfect classes to sign up for. 

There is a notification bar that will be activated if you have a pending financial hold or any other issue you need to resolve with the school. 

There’s also a full bar of links to every website that is a part of, or pertains to, INFOnline. You can access everything you need without having to go back to the homepage and re-log in. 

At some point, it may become possible to personalize your page as well. “Down the road we’re looking at maybe allowing some customization so you can put your own widgets out there,” Kubatzke said. “If you want the Dow Jones ticker out there you can get that, but for our initial launch we’re not allowing that because we want to see how things work and see how things go.” 

The portal is free of charge to you, the student, Graham says. Graham further states, “The only thing we want students to do is access it. Once you access it, all that information will be at your fingertips.”

Feedback will be welcomed and encouraged via a feedback button on the Portal page. 

However, if you want to get further involved in the process of development after the rollout, the best place to start is your student government. 

Graham said, “At some point
we’ll put together a group through student government to talk about technology, in general, as we move things out.” If you’re interested, talk to Archie Graham or the student life director at your campus. 

Other things to look forward to, Graham says, are some exciting promotions, “We may have a little activity built in. We’re going to try to encourage students to look at the portal to get an opportunity to get some gifts down the road,” so keep your eyes open.