BY JACK JOHANNESSEN, Staff Reporter

The portal update from Wildcat Connection to MyCWU resulted in mixed reactions from staff, students and faculty.

MyCWU was released Jan. 27, 2014, and was intended to be more customizable and user-friendly than its predecessor, Wildcat Connection.

Gail Farmer, a change manager in Human Resources, said in a past interview that MyCWU is a major component within a series technology infrastructure projects, known as Improving CWU Applications and Technology (iCAT).

Jim Schwing, computer science department chair, said he had a two-fold reaction.

“It is absolutely the way [we] need to go, but I have concerns with the interface as it now stands,” Schwing said.

Schwing said he has had issues with finding certain things on MyCWU, and it is only kind of customizable.

According to Schwing, there are functions on MyCWU that are now buried in menu after menu.

Schwing thinks users should have the ability to bring frequently used but hidden folders to the front page instead of having to navigate through all the menus.

Schwing also said MyCWU’s security measures are adequate, but felt that the warnings concerning logging off were unnecessarily severe.

“They do as good a job anybody does from a security point of view,” Schwing said.

John Anvik, assistant computer science professor, expressed the same issues with MyCWU as Schwing: tools that were the focus of Wildcat Connection that are now hidden on MyCWU.

“I’m not really happy with it,” Anvik said.

Anvik said MyCWU has new names for certain files. For example, Safari is now called Campus Solutions. Anvik was confused by this at first and would have liked to know these new terms before having to use MyCWU.

Jill Hernandez, a Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) manager, said there are online guides, like solutions, request forms and training for students; staff and faculty at their disposal in case there is confusion regarding certain aspects of MyCWU.

Anvik also said he thought the switch from Wildcat Connection to MyCWU was abrupt. Hernandez, on the other hand, thinks the timing was right to release MyCWU.

“It is a good way to introduce [MyCWU] to students before fall,” Hernandez said.

There is mixed sentiment from students regarding MyCWU.

“It’s new, but pretty good,” Trent McFarlane, a senior computer science major, said.

McFarlane said MyCWU is easier to use than Wildcat Connection was. Once the user has figured out how to use the new system, it is not very difficult to navigate.

Deepinder Bajwa, a senior computer science major, said his experience with MyCWU is mixed. It was difficult for him to find information at first.

Bajwa also said having to close the browser to be fully logged off seems like a security risk. Other students simply have had trouble adjusting to the change.

“I was used to Wildcat Connection and Safari,” Brian Aras, a senior economics major, said.

He also thought MyCWU was difficult to navigate at first; however, Aras thinks closing the browser to be completely logged off is a good security measure.