PORTA-FAQs for students

General Questions

After logging in to PORTA you can view your personal data. Why do I see my date and place of birth under my own data?

Because PORTA is also an identity management system, personal data must be included to ensure that each person is unique. The data will not be published or shown to other users. The data will only be used by people who are active in the user management system who need this information to determine uniqueness/identity.

I want to change my password. However, there is no function in PORTA to do so. How can I change my password?

Passwords are managed through the central user management system, so there is no function in PORTA for this. To change your password, please use the information on the following web page: Ändern des ZIMK-Passwortes (Changing your ZIMK password)

My PORTA login does not work

Check that you have entered the ZIMK user ID and ZIMK password or your customized password correctly and note that they are case sensitive. Also check if the language settings are correct or if the Caps Lock key is enabled.

My profile is not displayed in the portal. How can I view information about my account/profile?

It is possible to have more than one role in PORTA. If you only have one role within PORTA (i.e. student), then it will be displayed directly on the interface.

If you have more than one role, e.g. as a student and also working as an employee, you have to switch between the two roles for certain actions. To do this, click on the icon with the little person in the upper right corner.

Please also note that some profiles are not visible outside of the university network (however, the student profile is visible outside of the university network without a VPN.). To see other profile functions that are not visible outside of the university network, then you need to log in to the uni network via the VPN-Client.

Courses/Lectures

The registration button for a course is missing in the Planner of Study and neither the date nor the lecturers are shown.

This means that the course is not offered in that semester. All courses assigned to a module are displayed in the curriculum, regardless of whether they are offered in the current semester or not.

Where can I find the course catalogues for previous years?

You can find course catalogues for the for previous years in PORTA:

course catalog

How can I find courses that are not assigned to a degree programme, such as language courses, German courses, etc.?

You can find these courses via the course search under the menu item COURSES OFFERED.

There is no registration button for a course

If the registration button is missing for a course, then either the registration period has been not yet been entered for the course or the registration period has not yet begun or has already expired.

It should also be noted that not all registration deadlines automatically apply to all courses. The registration deadline is determined by the department for each individual course. Which deadline(s) apply to a course is indicated on the detailed view. You can access the detailed view by clicking on the course title.

If registration deadlines are missing here, they may have been forgotten or not desired. The setting of a registration period for a course is recommended to the lecturers, but it is not obligatory. In this case you should contact the lecturers directly.

How can I view the courses in my degree programme?

Via the menu item My Studies/Planner of Study you will see modules and associated courses for each degree programme.

What is the GÜK and why is it being displayed to me?

Behind these three letters is the "Global Overflow Account". Its function is to serve as a catch-all for courses that cannot yet be directly assigned by the system to one or more modules within the degree program. The same applies if the student completes more courses than are allocated to the individual modules or also repeats the attendance of a course.

It is always needed when the system is not able to assign courses directly to modules, either because the link is missing or because an assignment has already been made. In order to keep the data, these are booked into the GÜK.

It is important to note: These booked courses are documented and remain, the booking in the GÜK is a purely technical process and does not change anything about the course registration. There is also no expiration date. It is only a missing assignment that does not need to be corrected. Even if you are asked when registering for an event whether it should be booked in the GÜK, you can answer in the affirmative and you will not be disadvantaged in any way, either in terms of space allocation or in any other respect.

What does the term "parallel courses/event" mean?

Parallel courses /events are semester-dependent courses where there are multiple sections of the course. 

Even if only one course takes place in the semester, a "parallel group" is created.

Several parallel groups are created for courses where the same content is delivered but the groups occur at different times. Different groups may have different lecturers/docents. A student is assigned to one group (or section) for a course.

What is a semester-independent course/event?

An event /course that is independent of the semester it falls within includes information about an examination and course regulations, which remain constant throughout the semesters. This is usually contains information which is described in the module manuals and consists of: general course/event title, type of course/event, frequency offered, and the programme and module it is assigned to.

 

 

What is a semester dependent course?

The course is supplemented with semester-dependent data that varies each semester. It consists of: specific course title, dates, rooms, instructors, texts.

PORTA displays the following message when booking events: " At the moment an enrollment is not possible. There is more than one valid enrollment period due to a period configuration error“

PORTA may need information to be updated or corrected for enrolment to be possible. Please email/phone the contact person for PORTA.

Contact

For answers to general questions as well as technical support for PORTA please email portauni-trierde