by Nicole Lovett

ONEPeralta, a new online student administrative system, will help students view their education plans, petition for graduation, and access financial aid in a more accessible manner, said Dr. Jason Cole.

ONEPeralta will launch in Fall 2018 for Spring 2019 registration. Cole, who is the vice chancellor of information technology of the Peralta district, said he is excited about the progress his team has made so far, and that the new ONEPeralta system is promising.

“It will work much more seamlessly on mobile phones and smaller screens than the current version,” Cole said.

“There will be a new, tile-based interface and easier, more modern screens. The interface provided in the new version is accessible, but we will also be testing to make sure all of our students have the tools they need to succeed.”

As a ONEPeralta ambassador, Atiya Rashada is a resource for people who have questions about the new system.“Personally, I would say we are taking a step into the 21st century,” Rashada said.

The new system will track interactions between students and staff.

ONEPeralta will also help the Peralta colleges be more organized. Rashada pointed out that if a student walks into an office to ask a question or wants to apply for something, there’s no record.

The new system will make sure that interactions between students and staff are tracked, making it easier for follow-ups and accountability from the college. “The idea is to serve the students better and do our part more efficiently,” Rashada said.

ONEPeralta will not only help make Peralta more accessible to students, but for administrators too.

“[ONEPeralta will] streamline processes for faculty administrators and staff. A lot of our work is paper heavy, and will now be an online automated processes.” Rashada said that administrators will see these improvements by the end of May, but for students, more is to come.

The current Passport System is run by software developer PeopleSoft and tech security firm Oracle, which the district has used since 2010.

The college district contracted Deloitte, a software company that designed ONEPeralta and developed various upgrades, from finance to student platforms.

Cole said that transitioning from the current Passport System was more than just aesthetics.

“On a technical level, the version of PeopleSoft we were on was no longer supported by Oracle,” he said. “So it was difficult and expensive to get new financial aid rules and tax law updates. We knew that within a year, we would no longer be able to update our financial aid rules or take new security patches.”

These changes to the Peralta system were made with students in mind. “We want to make the student’s experience as simple and easy as possible,” Cole said.

“While there are a lot of regulatory requirements with which we need to comply, we are working to make it as easy as possible to apply, find and register for classes, manage financial aid and apply for graduation.”

To help students get acclimated to the new system, the district will feature a training module on Canvas. For more information on ONEPeralta, visit web.peralta.edu/oneperalta.

Nicole Lovett is a staff writer for the Laney Tower.