Thursday, March 3, 2011

Spring mid-semester update

Greetings,

So much going on here this semester, really exciting time as we continue to leverage the new website, create new and engaging content, and discover more ways to show what is special about UB on the web.

Training available on web editing

I have been rolling out training in the new system to a small group of Web Editors, so that we can test the system in a limited way before rolling it out fully.  After ensuring that the system is ready for new users, we are now ready to provide training to any Web Editor or Approver that is interested.  Please contact me to set up a session if you are interested!

Improving Academic Pages

Following the rounds of recent Academic Content Review meetings, we have been in the constant process of improving the content of our Academic program pages.  Some of the newest revisions include many Graduate program homepage revamps.  The idea here is too add more imagery, make the pages easier to use, and overall bring a more dynamic look to our Academic program areas.  Here are just a few examples that have been spruced up this semester:
This effort will continue, and the addition of quality faculty information pages for all programs will bring even further improvement.

Faculty Information Page Project underway

As you may be aware, in UB’s efforts to further highlight the expertise, achievements , research interests and academic credentials of our faculty, we are in the process of creating faculty information pages. 

These pages will include content items that faculty would like to highlight, such as:
  • Name
  • Title
  • Contact Information
  • Credentials
  • Photo
  • Biography
  • Research Interests (PDF)
  • Selected Publications, Articles & Presentations (PDF)
  • Recent Awards, Grants & Professional Activities (PDF)
  • Link to CV (PDF)

In order to keep this project moving forward in a timely fashion, I am attaching the link below to an e-form which has been specially designed for submitting information for this project.  Please complete all sections of the form, if applicable.  This will prevent potential delays which may be caused by incomplete submissions. 

Please use this form to submit your information:
http://bridgeport.wufoo.com/forms/submit-faculty-information/

The target deadline date for submission is April 1.

Additionally, in recent work with the International College, we created faculty information pages for the College.  These may also be a helpful starting point as an example.  Here is a link to the listing of the faculty information pages:
http://www.bridgeport.edu/academics/intlcollege/faculty/tward.aspx

The really great thing about this project is that when it is done, we will have a searchable databank of Faculty CVs, Research Interests, and Publications.  This will be a great feature for media looking for faculty experts, institutional grants and research staff, and prospects and parents looking at the quality of our faculty in their decision-making process.

Social Media Efforts

Recent events in the Middle East show us the power of social networking and social media, and how much of a part of daily life it has become.  At UB, we are continually working to improve how we engage with prospects on our social presences. We are making inroads on providing a more engaging social networking experience for prospective students.  Soon there will be a share widget added on every page so that users can share any content that is on the UB website with their friends.  We already have this functionality for all of our videos.

We also link to our social media presences from all pages in the footer of every page on the site.  I also made some initial adjustments to our main UB Social Network Page on bridgeport.edu under Admissions.  I will be adding a box that has our FaceBook status and recent Tweets on to this page soon as well ( http://www.bridgeport.edu/admissions/undergraduate/social.aspx). Finally, we are working with Admissions to improve the quality of our main UB FaceBook page itself by adding new photography, more frequent updates and better copy. 

As far as improving the frequency and dialogue of our social media posts, some significant movement has been made on this front.  I purchased and set up the Hootsuite software, which allows staff that are doing social networking to pre-schedule posts.  This will make it easier for them to post more frequently, coordinate with each other, and help ease the constant burden of frequent posting that is required in this space.  I have met with Career Services, Admissions, IDEAL and set up their accounts, trained them in the software, and they are now using it.  Looking to meet with Alumni and Athletics soon to round out everyone who currently has a social networking presence here at UB.  I am also looking for ways to leverage the work we are already doing- so that any event or news item gets posted to our social media sites automatically. 


Other happenings

Here's the latest roundup on recent web efforts this spring.  The following is a short list of things that have been in the works:

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