Creating Custom Online Solutions
OIT’s team of custom developers work to create and maintain distinct projects for the campus community. Developers work with UA faculty and staff to create unique online applications and solutions. Utilizing various technologies and creative minds, the team works to build requested projects. This team also works with vendors to create integrations between systems including Blackboard Learn, Banner and Action Card.
Notable projects include the OIT Status Page – a custom tool designed to inform the campus community of IT service statuses and upcoming maintenance. UA’s WellBama Employee Portal – an online tool to help faculty and staff access available resources for wellness and engage with a culture of wellness on campus. UA’s effort reporting system, admissions applications, scholarship awarding systems, and many more departmental applications.
Our teams also work to implement third party tools and systems for UA operations. This includes the use of K2 which serves as the framework for critical processes such as Human Resources Personnel Action form and Family Medical Leave requests. The team integrates innovative tools such as UI Path’s Robotic Process Automation system to streamline manual and inefficient business processes.
To begin a custom development project, the customer must showcase the business need/customer impact for a custom solution. To get started, submit a project request form with OIT’s Project Management Office.
“Working with EDAS and the project management team to develop and maintain the C&IS Engagement Portal has been a pleasure and a true asset to C&IS. OIT has been supportive of the vision of the project, and a willingness to be flexible and adapt to time demands and system constraints on both sides facilitates a strong working relationship that enhances the custom platform. The willingness of the developers to learn and deploy novel practices while also providing ideas on how to improve specific features is invaluable.
Building a custom framework facilitated our ability to meet a diverse set of needs across the college while also adapting to a variety of novel use cases, thereby increasing buy-in and utility of the application. Overall, the Engagement Portal ideally provides C&IS a holistic picture of student engagement across the college through providing a mechanism for faculty/staff to create and maintain involvement opportunities while students explore and apply. Not only can students stumble upon new ways to get involved from official student organizations to joining a faculty member’s research team, but the portal has also helped us link and maintain involvement data from across different areas of the college.
As the portal matures, administrators will be able to leverage that growing dataset to promote retention and development efforts. From identifying students who have never attempted to get involved to those who may have been trying but haven’t yet found a fit, the system has wide ranging benefits, beyond streamlining and enhancing the ability of our faculty and staff to create and manage student involvement.”
- Jim Bailey, Director of Strategic Initiatives, College of Communication & Information Sciences
EDAS Services and Policies“The team was so patient and easy to work with as we moved our manual promotion application to an online portal, taking us step-by-step through the process. We started with the “first draft”, then refined it over time based on their recommendations. Now, we occasionally need to make updates, and we do so by submitting an online ticket – it’s quick and easy.
The online application has saved an enormous amount of staff hours, while increasing accuracy and security of the promotion process. One of the best decisions we ever made!”
- Karen Silliman, Director of Technology and Distance Education, Capstone College of Nursing
