MyGateway System Help

Using MyGateway: Issues, Frequently Asked Questions and Important Tips

Is the MyGateway login secure?

Why does it take the grade book so long to appear?

I posted an exam for students to take in the OTC but the OTC
staff cannot locate the exam

I'm teaching a course and it doesn't show up when
I logon to MyGateway

Assessments (Keeping files, Online Test Center, moving assessments)

I'm giving an exam using MyGateway to a large group of students

Gradebook

Using Copy and Paste to insert HTML coding into Content Areas

User Management (enrollments) (Student Enrollment Status)

Course Statistics

MyGateway Faculty Request Page (Course copies, course site combinations, course listings)

End of Semester Checklist

Personal Information (Names, E-Mail Addresses)

Passwords

Off-Campus Access

Is the MyGateway login secure?
Yes. While the portal entry page itself is not https the login box on MyGateway submits your ID and password using SSL encryption.

Posting Exams for the OTC
Make sure the exam is available and a password has been created. These items are located under the "Modify Test Options" section in MyGateway. This may also occur if an exam was created, student's scheduled a time to take the exam and the exam was deleted and replaced by an exam with the same name and password. In order to prevent this the original exam should be modified but not deleted. A beginning and ending exam date must be checked. (this allows it to show up in the schedule the students and OTC staff uses for appointments).

Assessments

"Returning" and Maintaining Online Test Files
Students are un-enrolled from courses shortly following the end of a semester (usually within 10-14 days from the end of a semester). When students are un-enrolled, the course grade book (see grade book issues below), as well as students' online assessment responses, are deleted from the MyGateway database. It is incumbent upon instructors to either:

Provide students with the opportunity to review their online assessments by using the "detailed feedback" option when making online assessments available. This is the equivalent of "returning an exam," and also provides the student with the option of printing out the assessment with their graded answers.
If the instructor prefers to NOT enable the feedback option for online assessments, maintaining a printed copy of students work is the responsibility of the individual instructor. Student responses for online assessments can be printed out and stored as "hard-copy" files, or copied and pasted into a digital file.

In either case, students should be informed of the
options provided for them to review their online assessment work.

The Online Testing Center
The OTC has space for 15 concurrent students. Students must arrange appointments for test taking in advance. Instructors may reserve the OTC for an entire class, if the class numbers 15 or fewer students. Please inform your students to use the link: https://tomsawyer.umsl.edu/webapps/weboffice/OTC/user/login.cfm for scheduling their test taking appointments. A link to this website will be available on the students' OTC help page (available from the student help area of MyGateway), and will also be available in the “Services” module (and Tab) on students’ main MyGateway page.

The new system will automatically list any test you make available in MyGateway—if you attach a password to the test, (the password will NOT be available to the students, of course). The password will be stored on a secure server that will enable the proctors to have access to the passwords without sending additional email messages to the OTC. The system will also read the “date restrictions for visibility of Announcement and/or Link to Assessment” you use for your tests. Once the exam is available, students can log on to the system at any time, but only schedule an appointment during the specified “visibility” period (if you do not set date restrictions for visibility of the test announcement or link, students can schedule an exam at their convenience).

IMPORTANT: The system will also read any “time limit” you place on an exam to insure that the scheduled appointment time will be sufficient for the exam (we add 15 minutes to any time period you set to provide an “extra” cushion for busy times). A default time of 75 minutes will be used if you do not specify a time limit. The time limits set through this page only impact the availability of computers in the OTC and DO NOT alter the time limit you set for taking an exam. Please try to set reasonable time limits for your exams.

The OTC is located in room 200 South Campus Computing Building (Building 31 on the South Campus map:( http://www.umsl.edu/misc/Maps/maps.html). OTC proctors can be reached via email at umslon@msx.umsl.edu or by telephone at 516-7474.

If students have difficulty using the Online Appointment Scheduling System, they can contact the OTC by email umslon@msx.umsl.edu. They must be sure to provide the necessary information: Gateway ID, name, class, class number, test number, date, and time. If scheduling an appointment by email, students should review the OTC schedule to insure they request appointments during opening hours (when students use the online system for making an appointment they will only be able to schedule an exam during opening hours). Also, if scheduling an appointment by email, students should insure they request a time that will allow sufficient time to complete the exams (the online system automatically schedules a time slot based on the time limit set for the exam by the instructor). Students will not be allowed to finish tests past the closing time of the OTC.

Books, papers, cell phones, and pagers are not allowed in the testing room. Students should leave these items at home or check them with the proctor prior to taking a test. Students should not bring children to the OTC. Children are not allowed in the testing room, and cannot stay unattended at the center.

Instructors should complete the Faculty Contact and Exam instructions at: https://tomsawyer.umsl.edu/webapps/weboffice/OTC/instructor/login.cfm. This site will allow you to set up contact information as well as list special instructions for the proctors. The information submitted is only available to the OTC staff.

For more information on using the OTC, please visit the OTC website or contact the Faculty Resource Center at: 516-6704.

Moving Quizzes/Exams from one course to another
The simplest way to move quizzes and exams, as well as other content, from one course site to another is to request a "Course Content Copy" using the Faculty MyGateway Request page: https://tomsawyer.umsl.edu/webapps/sso/apps/MyGateway/login.cfm. Unwanted content can be eliminated after the copy by using the Course Recycler utility found in the Course Utilities area of the Control Panel. You can also use the "Course Copy" link in the Course Options area of the control Panel of a course site to copy specific content from one of your course sites to another.

To move a single exam from one course site to another:

Access the control panel of of the class that contains the assessment you want to use, and click on "Pool Manager" in the Assessment Area.
Click on the "Add Pool" button.
Enter a "pool name" and description (this can be anything you like).
Click submit, and then use the drop-down menu on the "Add Question(s)" screen to select: "From Question Pool or Assessment." Click submit.
Select the relevant assessment, and click submit.
If you want all the questions, simply click submit on the "Search for Questions" screen.
This will call up all the questions in the exam, and unfortunately you'll need to put a check mark by each and every one. Then click submit.
The next screen is the "Modify Pool" screen. If you don't need to modify anything, click OK. This will create the pool, and bring you back to the Poll Manager page.
Now you need to export the pool by clicking the "Export Pool" button. This brings you to a "Select Pool" page, and since you have only the one pool, simply click submit.
The next screen provides a link that allows you to download the pool file (it's in a compressed .zip format) onto your hard drive. Just take note of what directory you use to save the file.
Now, exit this course, and go to the course site within which you want to use the test. Go to this course's "Pool Manger" and use the "Import Pool" button.
Browse to find the file you just downloaded, and click submit.
This will load the pool into your other class site.
To create a new assessment using this pool, go to the assessment manager, and create a new quiz. When you get to the "Add Question(s) to the Assessment" page, use the drop-down menu to choose: From Question Pool or Assessment. Click submit.
On the next page, choose either "select specific question(s) from pool or assessment" or "select random block of questions from pool. Click submit.
The next page prompts you to select the pool/assessment you wish to use, click submit.
If you choose to select specific questions, the next page is "search for questions", again, to use all the questions simply click submit.
You'll be presented with the list of all questions, and can select the ones you want (unfortunately you have to individually select each question). Click submit, and you'll be taken to the Assessment Builder page that allows you to modify individual questions (if necessary), and then save the assessment (and make it available if you want.)
If you choose "random block" in step 15, the next screen prompts you to choose the pool you wish to use, then click submit.
The following "Add/Modify Questions" screen allows you to choose how many questions you wish to include on the assessment. Pick your number and click submit. This will bring you to the "Assessment Builder" page—see step 18.

It really doesn't take long (unless you have a few hundred questions to select).

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MyGateway Test Procedures for Large Groups
If your using MyGateway to administer an exam to a large group please read the document titled: MyGateway Large Group Testing Procedures. (MS Word doc)

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Using the Gradebook

Question: Entering grades can be so time consuming, is
there a fast way of entering grades for the entire class?
Yes. Use the Item View, rather than the Spreadsheet View, or within the spreadsheet view click on the "item" name at the top of the appropriate column in the spread sheet. This will open a page that allows you to enter grades on this particular item for every student in your class. Use the "tab" key to move from one student to the next. Click "submit" at the bottom of the page to enter your grades in the spreadsheet.

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Using Copy and Paste to insert HTML into Content Areas

There are two known issues involving the use of HTML in the text area of a content page:

If you are copying HTML code from some other source and attempting to copy it into the text area of a content page, be sure to not include <html></html>,<head></head> or <body></body> tags. These tags can render the resulting page, and other pages in the content area inaccessible. It might be a good idea if you are using large sections of html that cause problems to run the html through a validator like: http://validator.w3.org , fixing any errors/warnings it reports, then just manually cutting and pasting the contents between (but not including) the <body> </body> tags.

User Management (enrollments)

All courses on MyGateway are automatically populated with students at the beginning of each academic term. Course rosters will be automatically updated daily throughout the semester.
Instructors can add non-registered students (TAs, delayed grade make-ups, etc.) to a class via the control panel utility in MyGateway. To do this, use the "Enroll Users" utility located in the "Users Management" area of the Control Panel. You will be able search through the entire user database for the individual you want to add to your course. After you have added a new user to your course site, use the List/Modify Users utility to find them, click on "Properties" when their name appears, and assign them a different course role (student is default).

Question: Some of my students are not showing up in my MyGateway class roster or gradebook. What should I do?
Instructors should always use the List/Modify Users utility in the Control Panel to check on course enrollments. Every student who has registered fro the course will be displayed here. Students who have withdrawn from the course will be listed with small circle filled with an "X" near their course role status (mouse-over: disabled). Students with this icon located near their names have withdrawn from the university, are not registered for any credit-classes, or have other problems with their university status. These students will not show up in the gradebook, and cannot be deleted from the Users' list. For assistance with a student "disabled" in your course, contact mygateway@msx.umsl.edu

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Course Statistics

Course statistics reports are limited by the total number of hits (100,000): large courses, or very active courses may not return stats for a whole class. Solution-include only a limited number of students in your query.
Permanent course sites-the query needs to specify dates of concern specific to the semester in question.

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MyGateway Faculty Request Page

Requests to combine multiple sections of your courses into one MyGateway site, or to use content developed in a previous MyGateway course in a current course should be made via the MyGateway System Request page (https://tomsawyer.umsl.edu/webapps/sso/apps/MyGateway/login.cfm) (or, if you are in MyGateway 7, just click on the "Request System" tab). This page is also accessible via the Faculty Help area of the MyGateway system. You will receive email confirmation when your requests have been processed.

If a course you are scheduled to teach is not listed or if a course is listed that you are not teaching, please the MyGateway System Request page (https://tomsawyer.umsl.edu/webapps/sso/apps/MyGateway/login.cfm) (or, if you are in MyGateway 7, just click on the "Request System" tab). From the main request system page select, "Instructor Assignment" and follow the instructions to add (or remove) an instructor to (from) a course.

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End of Semester Checklist

Export your class grade book (if you used it) when you have entered final grades. The grade book is lost when students are UN-enrolled for MyGateway classes.
If you used online assessments, and did not enable the feedback options so that students could review their work, make copies of student assessments for your file.
Students are UN-enrolled from MyGateway class sites within 1-2 weeks from the end of a semester. An announcement is sent to all instructors specifying the specific date, well before the end of a semester.
All class sites are archived for future use, and will no longer appear on your list of courses (this is done at the same time we un-enroll students). If you would like to access a previous semester's course site at a later time, simply contact mygateway@msx.umsl.edu. (Please keep a record of the MyGateway course ID or the course reference number and semester).
Requests to combine multiple sections of your courses into one MyGateway site, or to use content developed in a previous MyGateway course in a current course should be made via the MyGateway System Request page:
https://tomsawyer.umsl.edu/webapps/sso/apps/MyGateway/login.cfm
(or, if you are in MyGateway 7, just click on the "Request System" tab). This page is also accessible via the Faculty Help area of the MyGateway system. You will receive email confirmation when your requests have been processed.
Please check your list of courses in the My Courses box on your MyGateway page. If a course you are scheduled to teach is not listed or if a course is listed that you are not teaching, please the MyGateway System Request page (https://tomsawyer.umsl.edu/webapps/sso/apps/MyGateway/login.cfm) (or, if you are in MyGateway 6, just click on the "Request System" tab). From the main request system page select, "Instructor Assignment" and follow the instructions to add (or remove) an instructor to (from) a course.

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Personal Information (Names, E-Mail Addresses)

All personal information in the MyGateway database is drawn directly from official university sources (Human Resource Division and the Office of the Registrar). If an instructor, staff member, or student wishes to make changes to their display name in MyGateway, this change has to be made with the appropriate office (faculty and staff--Human Resources Division, Students--Office of the Registrar).

Only official University of Missouri-St. Louis e-mail addresses are used in the MyGateway system.

New student e-mail accounts are activated shortly after they are admitted to the University. Students can request to have their campus email forwarded to a personal email account by completing the form titled "My Email Forwarding Address" located under the Student Tab in MyGateway.
Faculty and staff should contact their unit chairs to insure they have active MS (Outlook) Exchange e-mail accounts.

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Passwords

Question: My password doesn't work. What's wrong with the system?
Well, the reality is that the "system" is pretty dumb. It can only read what you enter, and it "looks" for the password listed for you in the user database. You should get a password error message only if you enter your password improperly (it happens to everyone), or, if you are trying to use your default password, the information recorded for you in the database is in error. If you have a persistent problem, please try resetting or changing your password via http://sso.umsl.edu, or contact the Technology Support Center at 516-6034 (helpdesk@umsl.edu).

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Off-Campus Access Issues

Question: What do I tell students who claim that they can't gain access to MyGateway unless they use an UMSL dial-up number? These are students who prefer to use Hotmail accounts, e.g., and who access them from home via another ISP.
MyGateway is not run on a restricted web site. Access to http://mygateway.umsl.edu is open, and the system can be accessed from virtually anywhere on the Internet. There are some Internet Service Providers (ISP) that make using the system difficult-WebTV is one, because of their lack of support for certain features-like Java scripting. But, this is a relatively minor issue.

Student email is another concern, however, it is not necessary for students to use UMSL Dial-up to access their email. They can use the simple WWW interface, http://studentmail.umsl.edu/ to access their mail from anywhere.

Question: Why does it take the grade book so long to appear?
We have noticed that users are experiencing lengthy delays in accessing the grade book in MyGateway if they use any of the following web browsers: Firefox, Netscape, or Mozilla. It does not appear that we will be able to fix this problem in the near future. Please be aware of the delays, and understand that using MS Internet Explorer will allow you to access the grade book without inordinate delay.

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