Northeastern University believes in putting the needs of users
first — before technology and regardless of whether solutions
are commercially available. In support of this principle, the
private research institution has taken a “best-of-breed”
approach when selecting or developing technology platforms,
systems, and applications. Today, its technology infrastructure
includes homegrown applications, solutions from competing
vendors, and both mainframe and client/server environments.

“We’re in the integration business,” explained Richard E.
Mickool, executive director, information services, Northeastern
University. “So we select only vendors who support
technology standards and Internet standards. We need to
have common specifications to assemble everything together.
We don’t want anything proprietary.”

The Boston-based University supports a 50,000-customer
environment integrating SCT, PeopleSoft, Computer Associates,
College Board, and homegrown legacy administrative
systems, among others, as well as a myriad of academicsenabling
software and tools. It supports DB2, Oracle,
Microsoft SQL, and Computer Associates’ Integrated Database
Management System (IDMS) databases across IBM,
Sun, and Compaq servers accessing its 11-terabyte, mirrored
EMC enterprise storage solution.

“We took this ‘assemble’ approach a few years ago when we
realized that no one vendor could keep every department
happy,” said Mickool. “We wanted to be free to select different
applications from different vendors that best suited each
department.”

In its “assemble” approach, Northeastern buys the best single
component for a particular function or task, develops the rare
component that does not exist in the market, and focuses
internal resources on assembling the pieces. The result is a
full-featured, yet ultimately flexible, environment specifically
tailored to the institution. This approach also reduces
Northeastern’s reliance on any single vendor and minimizes
the risk associated with major application and data investments.

Although the infrastructure is a composite of systems and
applications, it is important to present the resulting data,
resources, and applications as a unified whole. To this end,
the University implemented SCT Luminis™ Platform II in the
fall of 2002. The solution creates an online environment that
can be customized by every member of the campus community.

Based on JA-SIG uPortal framework, the Luminis Platform II
portal features include channelized content and layout that
allow administrators to turn almost any Web-based information
or application into an information “channel” accessible
through the campus portal; a publish-and subscribe-channel
model that lets authorized users create channels for constituents
to subscribe to information channels of their choice
through the campus portal; robust end-user customization;
and institutional ability to personalize portal content based on
the roles, interests, and needs of individual end-users.

Before Northeastern implemented SCT Luminis portal technology,
students needed to remember multiple electronic logins
and IDs, and they needed to know a variety of Web locations,
recalls Mickool. Also, all students were presented with the
same offerings, whether those resources were appropriate to
them or not.

“SCT Luminis allows us to integrate the user experience within
a single signon; and it allows us to aggregate access to
information and services and provide the information and
services all in one portal experience,” said Mickool. “It’s
important to have a single front end. We don’t want a confusing
or multiple interface/login environment. “

Features available to students within the SCT Luminis portal
include e-mail, information channels like campus announcements,
widespread issues and alerts, PowerFAIDS® integration
for financial aid information, Web drop/add, calendar,
weather, and Picture of the Week, an application where
students can submit a photograph for electronic posting.
Most recently, the student government conducted a referendum
vote online.

The resources and applications available online will proliferate
after the University implements the SCT Luminis Content
Management Suite later in 2003. The suite will let individuals,
departments, and groups publish, manage, and personalize
their own content, even if they have little to no technical
knowledge. Future online services that are already planned
include access to the library system and Blackboard electronic
courses.

“We saw the real power of the portal when we added drop/
add capabilities,” said Mickool. “We didn’t advertise the
capability. We just put it out there, and students saw it and
took advantage of it.” In fact, 37,000 drop/add transactions
occurred via the Web in the first semester that the capability
was available. Today, drop/adds taking place via the Web
account for 27 percent of registration activity.

Now that the University has been successful with its student
portal, it wants to replicate the experience for other constituents,
like alums, prospective students, faculty, and staff.

“Essentially, we want a different product line for each affiliation,”
explained Mickool. And eventually, the University wants
to tailor services and content for each individual. “Ultimately,
we want each individual to have access to services and
content that is appropriate and optimal for him or her.”

The personalization of resources and services enabled by SCT
Luminis technologies increases student participation, and
that ultimately increases the chance for student success,
says Mickool. Treating constituents as individuals has been a
hallmark of Northeastern. In 2002, the Kaplan/Newsweek
College Catalog included Northeastern among a group of
colleges and universities that offer the most individual
academic attention.

The technologies also increase the institution’s chance for
success. “The Internet has brought competition to higher
education,” said Mickool. “Now students can just click
somewhere else if we can’t provide them with what they want.
We have to compete with the right to be their service provider.
We can offer them value by giving them the Northeastern
integrated experience. It’s no longer a generic service.”

Nor will there be anything generic about Northeastern’s
technology infrastructure. “We’ll always seek out the ‘best-ofthe-
best’ technology for our users and serve it up in a way that
is personalized.