Get Familiar with UVLink: 2014

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Forward your UVLink Email to Another Email

Why should I forward my UVLink Email?

Utah Valley University (UVU) sends all important emails to your UVLink account. If you are not checking these emails regularly you can miss out on important emails that can affect your schooling. Some types of emails that UVU sends through UVLink are:

When you are off the waitlist
When tuition is due
When your financial aid or scholarship has been processed
When you can apply for graduation
When your graduation application has been accepted
Your account standing at UVU
Deadlines for important due dates
When you can get the documents needed for taxes
Important UVU events you can attend

As you can see there are many reasons why you should be looking at UVLink email regularly. If you don't check UVLink regularly but there is another email that you check regularly I suggest you forward your UVLink email to this email. Just follow the four easy steps below.

How to forward my UVLink Email.

It is super easy to forward your UVLink email to your desired email.

Step 1 – Login to UVLink
Step 2 – Click the Student tab at the top of the page

Step 3 – Under the Getting Started section scroll to the bottom and click the link that says, “Forward your UVLink email to another account”

Step 4 – Type in the desired email

*If you don't see a place to type your email, click on the options button at the top of the page. Then click on Auto Forward and repeat step 4.

A Look at the New UVU Schedule Wizard

MyUVU Schedule Wizard is a new scheduling feature that UVLink added this past fall. Even though I will be graduating this month, (Woot!) I played around with this new tool to see what it did. I found this new wizard tool to be very helpful and great at helping students register for classes. I wish this feature had been made earlier. There are many great things you can do with this schedule wizard, some things include:

Generate possible schedules from selected classes
Add breaks to your schedule
Use your Wolverine Planner you already made to add classes

I like how easy it is to generate possible schedules. You can just select the classes you need to take and see if there is a schedule that will work. This is way easier than before where you had to write everything down and make sure you weren't picking classes that overlapped. It would take me hours to find a schedule that would work with all the classes I wanted to take, but with this tool you can easily see many different combinations quickly. I also like how you can check and uncheck classes from the course section till you find a schedule that works.

I think it’s cool that the schedule wizard also allows you to add a break. When I would register for classes I would always just hope there was a break in there because it was just so hard to make a schedule that worked. But being able to specify when you want breaks then just let the computer do the work is so great.

There was one part of this new schedule wizard tool that I found lacking was the help videos. They seem like a great idea but the video quality is just poorly done. Even though the videos were only like two minutes long I couldn't even finish them because the sound was so bad and the narrator was just so boring. This is one area where the schedule wizard could use some improving.

My favorite feature of the new schedule wizard is that you can add classes from your Wolverine Planner. Wolverine Planner is a tool that you can use on Wolverine Track to help pick out what classes you want to take and when. I also like how the schedule wizard specifies which classes you can’t take this semester, because it’s not offered, from your Wolverine Plan by putting a warning symbol.

After checking out this new UVU schedule wizard I was very jealous of future students being able to have an awesome tool to help them register for classes. I love how the computer does all the work in generating possible schedules from what classes are listed and can even incorporate breaks. I think it’s also really cool that Wolverine Planner is integrated into the system. Now no student has to complain about having to set up a schedule for classes.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Thoughts on UVLink: A Student Interview

To help me get a better idea on how UVU students use UVLink, I interviewed UVU student, Clint. From this interview I wanted to learn why he uses UVLink, likes and dislikes of UVLink, and suggestions on how to make UVLink better.

Why do students use UVLink?

Clint said the main reason he uses UVLink is because you have to use it to do anything at UVU. UVLink has all the tools needed to be successful at school. The main features Clint uses are, registering for classes and to get his class schedule. Clint also uses UVLink as a gateway to other important programs needed as a UVU student. He uses UVLink to access canvas and as Clint put it, “The best part of UVLink, Wolverine Track.”

Likes and Dislikes of UVLink.

Clint then told me of his likes and dislikes of UVLink. As I mentioned before, Clint’s favorite part is Wolverine Track. He uses Wolverine Track to help him register for classes. He is able to quickly see what classes he needs to take and can click on one to see what sections are available. Clint said without Wolverine Track it would be a lot harder to register.

I then asked Clint if he had ever used the new Wizard Scheduling Tool, UVLink just added this past registration season. Clint said he did use it, and loves it. He said it makes registering even easier now because he can just get the classes he needs from Wolverine Track then put it in the wizard scheduler and then it will create a schedule for him. He said that he loves this new feature and wish that they had made it earlier.

Clint says that he likes how UVLink has all this information to help you with school but he never uses half the stuff in UVLink. He said that there is so much information there that it is hard to navigate through. And as Clint put it, “You shouldn't have to teach someone to navigate through a website.” He said his main dislike of UVLink is that it is old, clunky, and not user friendly.

Suggestions for UVLink.

Clint said the best way to make UVLink better is to give it a simpler design, and make it more intuitive to use. He said one thing that can help UVLink is to use a top navigation instead of tabs and a list of links on the side bar. Clint also suggested that they cut down the content to be just features that are needed, and get rid of the fluff. UVLink is a great feature they just need to update it to make it easier to use.

It was fun to interview Clint and get another perspective on UVLink. I got to learn the reasons why he uses UVLink and how he mostly uses UVLink for registering for classes. Clint’s favorite part of UVLink is Wolverine Track and his least favorite is that it’s outdated and old. I loved hearing his suggestions that to make UVLink better it just needs a new design and layout.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Why Am I Writing This Blog?

Who Am I?

My name is Rachel Johnson and I am 22 years old. This past summer I got married to my wonderful husband, Clint Johnson. We both are at Utah Valley University (UVU) studying computers. My major, specifically, is digital media and I plan to graduate this December.

What I'm Blogging About

I decided to start this blog, because I feel that when new students come to UVU it can be difficult to navigate through all the websites especially UVLink. On this blog, I will be sharing what I have learned about UVLink and how to navigate through some of the great features it has. I will mostly be focusing on the features you can do on the student tab. I also welcome any comments or suggestions to help make this blog better and more useful.

By learning how to navigate through UVLink, students can get the information needed to be successful at UVU. UVLink is meant to be a tool for students to use while attending UVU. There is no right or wrong way to use UVLink. The hard part is just finding what you want. I feel UVLink was designed poorly for students trying to use it, especially for the first time. I just want to help you get familiar with how it works and where everything is located.

One of the most powerful tools in UVLink is the student tab. This is where I feel the ‘meat’ of UVLink is. There are so many cool features you can use from here that most people I've talked to don’t even know exist. If you can get familiar with this section of UVLink you will be that much better off at UVU.

I do not claim that I know everything about UVLink, I am still learning about new features all the time. If you have any comments or suggestions I would love to hear from you. Also, if you know of a great feature you can use in UVLink that I don’t know of, you are welcome to message me and maybe write the next article for this blog.

I want this blog to be a helpful tool for all students attending UVU, so I will try my best to provide information that is helpful. I feel UVLink is important for all UVU students to understand how to navigate through and use. But students will not be able to fully utilize UVLink without some guidance. My purpose is to provide this assistance in a way that will be most useful to you.