That, in a nutshell, is how Karen Stevenson describes the newly revamped MyYU student portal.
"For me, it was all about asking ourselves, What support elements are students lacking, and what can we bring to the forefront to help them?'" said Stevenson, Yorkville University's Director of Learning Experience Design, about the soon-to-be-unveiled new MyYU.
"That's really where we started with our design, and we just branched out from there."
A year in the making, the result of those efforts is a more personalized and easy-to-navigate "one-stop shop" for students looking for support in any and all aspects of their learning experience at Yorkville, Stevenson added.
"We've added in some navigation features so that right when students log on to the very first page, it asks, What are you looking for?' and there's a drop-down menu," Stevenson explained. "So, it's a lot more intuitive in terms of looking for exactly what you need to find."
On the Program Resource side of things, there's a My Program page full of information specific to each student's program, including communications and other bulletins from their deans and program advisors; a My Courses page from which students can launch their classes in Moodle; and a My Library page on which students can search for the books, articles and other research materials they need to access.
Under Student Success, there are links to Yorkville University's Career Services office and its job board, mental health and wellness services, and academic supports, including the Accessibility and Academic Accommodations team and tutoring services.
There are also quick links to the Yorkville University bookstore, academic calendar, registrar's and records offices, the AskYU portal, and merch store, among others.
"We're very excited to get this off the ground because we think students are really going to love living in there. We've taken what they need and created this portal around them so that they're at the centre of it," Stevenson said.
"This is your platform. This is your support hub. It's a holistic approach personalized around you, the student."
