THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas has launched an integrated version of the MyUSTe portal, providing stakeholders access to its various online services and applications in one web directory.
“MyUSTe simplifies administrative tasks with convenient tools and services. From admissions to enrollment, academic record viewing, and connecting with university offices, the platform streamlines processes,” MyUSTe’s ‘About’ page read.
The updated MyUSTe portal grants users access to services like the student portal and Thomasian Online Medical Services and Support, which could not be accessed through the portal’s previous version without making users repeatedly fill out their login details.
Also supported by the redesigned portal are online services offered by the UST Library, Office for Student Affairs, Office of the Registrar, and Alumni Relations Office, to which users will automatically be redirected under their accounts once selected.
A tab dedicated to the University’s student admissions, such as the University of Santo Tomas Entrance Test and program-specific admissions for the Faculty of Civil Law and Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, was also made accessible in the revamped portal.
To access the portal via https://myusteportal.ust.edu.p
Incoming freshmen are required to activate their UST email address via http://mail.google.com/a/ust.
Users also have the option to enable the ‘Remember me’ feature to keep from entering their TOTP once they have exited the portal. However, they will be prompted to verify their account after seven days of inactivity.
Idle users will automatically be logged out of the MyUSTe portal after periods of inactivity but are given over 30 seconds to extend their session by clicking a button in the popup notice.
Non-UST email holders are limited to the University’s online services for admission, student records application, alumni services and parent access for junior and senior high school students.
Calls for improvement
Despite finding the developments of the MyUSTe portal useful, some students expressed hope that it would be more user-friendly in its future updates.
“I think there is always room for improvement. But I guess I can also [support its new] version [which caters to] the students’ [needs] more,” third-year behavioral science student Sharmaine Faith Raynes told The Flame.
Raynes said she still found changes like the authentication feature useful in ensuring the data privacy and security of Thomasians.
Journalism junior Joyce Ann Cabral said the use of Google Authenticator can be difficult to some students due to its accessibility issues.
“Students use the MyUSTe portal mostly in their phones and the authenticator is only [made] available (by scanning the code with their) phones. Also the code in the authenticator only has a 30-second timer, making it a hassle to do in a laptop […] It’s very time consuming,” she said.
Cabral expressed disappointment upon facing issues in navigating the portal, such as needing to sign in multiple times whenever she accessed the University’s online services.
Journalism senior Via Bianca Ramones claimed that the previous version of the MyUSTe portal performed better than the current one.
“I don’t think it is necessary to have a new version. The old version was working well. Although I haven’t used the new version much, I tried to open it a while ago and it was working kinda slowly,” she said.
“[I] hope [the new MyUSTe portal] will work as fast as the old version or will work faster than it.”
This was echoed by second-year English language studies student Coleen Jeanelle Hufanda, who wants the enhancements in the student portal to continue because its previous version had system errors and information delays.
“It’s great that the authorities took this opportunity to revamp [the] MyUSTe [portal] for a better user experience [in] the coming years,” Hufanda added.
Developed by the University’s Office of Information and Communication Technology enterprise application development team, the updated version of the MyUSTe portal was officially completed on July 10 after undergoing a three-day cutover period to give way for the portal’s maintenance. F
