Where in the World Wide Web is the Web Redesign Project?
Information Technology News
October 3, 2017
How does a university connect with an ever-evolving generation, who is more tech-savvy and digitally connected than ever?
Well, we’re glad you asked. We gave our website a little of that “Fixer Upper” vibe and rolled out a brand new look. But, it’s not all sunshine GIFs and lazy memes. It’s hard work! Just ask the Web Content Team.
The Web Content Team consists of Adrienne Nobles, assistant vice president for University Communications; Stephanie Edwards, director for client services for the Office of Information Technology; Darren Denham, content administrator for the Office of Information Technology; Sarah Neese, communications and marketing coordinator for University Communications, and several other hard-working people throughout the university community, all of whom have been working to build page after page for the new site.
The top-level pages for the site launched in February. So, what have we been doing since?
Another good question!
To date, we have completed Phases 1 and 3, with significant progress in Phase 2, which is ongoing.
As part of Phase 1, we launched the home page and many top level pages – such as About the University, Our Cabinet, Strategic Planning and the A-Z index. In addition, with the support of the Software Development Group in IT, we redeveloped the Central Directory and the Press Release applications.
We completed the first part of Phase 2 and launched the Admissions and Aid pages, which include Admissions, Financial Aid, Scholarships and the Bursar’s Office. The next grouping of Phase 2, which is well underway, includes Enrollment Services and Advisement.
To shed some light on Phase 2, there were 8,000 pages to review, rewrite, reorganize and rebuild.
Phase 3 is just now completed. We launched the Academic Program pages in August, which consist of about 120 pages in a new structure to allow students to better discover programs, while also providing an easier way for colleges to manage their program information.
And now, we’re in our fourth phase. Projected to be one of the longest stretches, during Phase 4, we will initiate work with each of the university’s five colleges.
We plan to double up and facilitate the projects two at a time, with the first two being the Colleges of Fine Arts and Design and the College of Liberal Arts. This phase is expected to take several months; in fact, we expect, when it’s all said and done, a year will have past before this phase is complete.
After that, in Phase 5 we will take on Offices and Services, to include divisions and department websites.
And then the final phase, Student Life, expected to kick off in the spring of 2019.
As a project that stretches across multiple years, the website redesign is quite the undertaking. However, better connecting with the next generation of Bronchos makes it all worthwhile.