SUSS to discontinue existing tribal member portal 

Tribe unveils the “Southern Ute Tribal Member Experience,” a modern web platform packed with features tailored for tribal members. The rollout includes an updated Tribal Member website, a tribal email account, tribal alerts, and Microsoft Office 365. The project was a collaboration between Tribal Council Affairs, Tribal Information Services, and Southern Ute Shared Services.  

The Tribe is pleased to announce that these new features are already available to the membership, and tribal members are encouraged to create their personal account and set up their profiles online — if they haven’t done so already. The new platform will replace the existing Tribal Member Portal, which goes offline at the end of this month.  

“The project began with Tribal Council Affairs,” said Tribal Council Communication Specialist, Lindsay J. Box. “We identified that as an area we wanted to improve — to make it more of an experience, more interactive.” 

When the pandemic hit, the need was more immediate, the emphasis on digital communication became a priority. “[We needed to] develop an app to get immediate information to the membership,” Box emphasized. “We relied heavily on virtual programs during COVID.”  

“Tribal Council approved retiring the older Tribal Member Portal site as the new Tribal Member Experience will take its place as the information hub for enrolled Southern Ute tribal members,” stated Box. “The contents of the older site have been restored to the new site, which has been live since September.” ⠀ 

“This idea started over a year ago, the main idea was to make it more secure,” explained Dana Kopf, web systems supervisor with Southern Ute Shared Services, whose team is the lead on this project from an IT standpoint. “Occasionally the Tribe posts very sensitive documents, that are just for tribal members. The [old] security was good, but not as good as it could be. So, with the new portal, we are using multi-factor authentication to verify that the login to the website is secure. That decision was made in coordination with Tribal Council Affairs, and Tribal Council, with security as the primary motivation.” 

“It’s a modern website, and modern websites require modern security,” Kopf said.  

“There are additional benefits, Yammer is a private social network, similar to Facebook, but it’s not in the public eye,” Kopf said. “It’s a way for tribal members to participate, comment, post or give constructive feedback — out of the public eye. Yammer is available on the website and as a smartphone app.  

“The Yammer app is a component of the ‘Southern Ute Tribal Member Experience,’” Box said.   

The profile creation is part of the account set up under the Microsoft 365 platform. When a tribal member sets up an account it comes with a personal login, an email account and permissions to look at SharePoint and access the Yammer app, all under one profile.  

“We wanted build an integrated platform,” Kopf said. “It’s Microsoft 365 with custom features. It’s a way for tribal members to have an official NAME@so-ute.com email address. They get the Microsoft Office suite — Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Eventually we want to offer TEAMS as well. Yammer is more one way communication, to like and comment; TEAMS offers a full experience — with video, chat, and audio features.”  

“The other thing that we built is an alert sign up, where tribal members can enter their phone number to receive text alerts, such as closure notifications,” he said.  

This platform will also provide SUSS with a method to build secure forms, and ultimately a more interactive experience for Southern Ute tribal members. SUSS will continue to offer new digital resources and technology updates to facilitate the overall online experience.  

A focus group of tribal member volunteers met with SUSS and TCA in July to provide direct feedback on the topics of accessibility, navigation, user-friendliness, aesthetics, security, notifications, design and Microsoft licensing.  

That input from tribal members was also considered as the new platform was finalized. The Tribe gave an in-depth presentation on the transition to the new platform at the General Meeting held in September of 2021. 

“This program will also benefit tribal member entrepreneurs,” Box said. “It’s more secure with the two-factor authentication.”  

“There’s a feedback feature that will remain at the top of the page,” she said — emphasizing that the site will continue to improve and evolve with tribal member input and future updates.  

 

What is available today?  

Tribal Member Experience features that are now available include: 

• Tribal Member website – Modern mobile friendly website with social/collaboration features including content, calendars, announcements, etc. 
• Outlook email – Enhanced access to a tribal email account, contacts, and calendar from any device. 
• Tribal Alerts – Subscribe to SMS text alert channels from Tribal Council Affairs and Tribal Information Services 
• Office 365 – The latest Microsoft Office web applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. 

Getting started resources  –  We want to make sure you have the best possible experience with getting started.  Plan on up to 30 minutes to review the resources on the Tribal Member Experience welcome page: https://www.southernute-nsn.gov/tmx/ that are outlined below.  We strongly encourage you to sign up for a Training Session or a Support Session to make the most of these new features. 

• Quick Start Guide – step by step process to request, set up, and use your Tribal Member account. 
• Video Guide – follow along the step-by-step process to request, set up, and use your Tribal Member account. 
• Account Request Form – to request your new Tribal Member account. 
• Training Sessions (recommended) – join us for a scheduled training session (virtual or in-person)​. 

• Scheduled Support – schedule an in-person or virtual one-on-one support session if you have questions or need help. 
• Support Team – the SUSS Tribal Member Experience team is trained and available to help with onboarding, training, etc. 

The old Tribal Member Portal will be retired on December 31, 2021. 

  Please contact Lindsay Box, Tribal Council Communication Specialist (at 970.563.2313 or lbox@southernute-nsn.gov) with any questions or concerns.