Web Content Management Forum

SHU Website Wins 2011 WebAward for 3rd Consecutive Year!

I am pleased to announce that for the third year in a row, the Sacred Heart University website has received the Web Marketing Association's University Standard of Excellence Award for outstanding achievement in web development!!

The Web Marketing Association’s annual WebAward Competition sets the standard of excellence for website development.  Best websites are selected by judges from around the world who review the entered websites using the following seven criteria: design, ease of use, copywriting, interactivity, use of technology, innovation and content. SHU's website scored higher than the industry average in four categories, rating especially high in both content and copywriting. 

The WebAward Competition is the premier award recognition program for Web developers and marketers worldwide. For more details on the award and recipients, visit WebAward. 

Congrats to Sacred Heart University and the Web Content Mangement Team!

Is your website ready?

With the start of a new academic year upon us, the WCM team is preparing for a full plate of exciting projects. More on that to come in my next post (oh, the suspense!). . . . but first and foremost, let's talk about your department's website! Is your site ready for the new academic year? Here are a few things to ask yourself . . .

• Is your department's website up-to-date with new program information?
• Have new faculty and staff been added?
• Have fall/spring open houses, lectures, and other important events been posted?
• Do you have news/press releases/faculty accomplishments to add?
• Do you have new photography or video to add?
• And what old content needs to be deleted?

Let's start the year off right and get our websites on track. If your department needs assistance, contact WCM today.

Thank you!  

 

SHU Prepares for 45th Commencement Weekend

This weekend will mark Sacred Heart University's 45^th Commencement Weekend. For complete information on time of events, speakers, and honorary degree recipients, please visit the Commencement Website.

Graduate Commencement will take place this Saturday, May 14, at 1:30pm. Undergraduate Commencement will take place this Sunday, May 15, at 11:00am.

Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees will be presented to two distinguished recipients at the Undergraduate Commencement ceremony. Dr. John J. Petillo, Sacred Heart University’s newly appointed president, will bestow the honors on Francis J. Butler, who heads FADICA, which stands for Founders and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities; and Murray Martin, chief executive officer of Pitney Bowes Inc., headquartered in Stamford. Dr. Petillo will also offer remarks to the Class of 2011 at that ceremony.

At Graduate Commencement, Christopher K. McLeod, who heads the 454 Life Sciences Corp., will deliver the commencement address. Mr. McLeod and Judith Persichilli, who is the president and CEO of Catholic Health East, will receive honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees at this ceremony.

Congratulations and best wishes to SHU's Class of 2011! 

SHU launches new International Student Services website

 
Currently more than 140 international students from 27 countries are pursuing Undergraduate and Graduate studies at Sacred Heart University. Due to this growing population, our Web and Admissions Team have developed a comprehensive online international student guide.  Here you will find helfpful information and links on everything from travel, U.S. customs and English as a Second Language, to housing, shopping and dining.

Visit the International Student Services website today and get yourself acquainted with our campus and the surrounding area, as well as life in the United States!

 

Time for Spring Cleaning!

Albeit a bit of a cliché . . . but yes, it's time to start spring cleaning our website! With the end of the academic year quickly approaching, now is a good time to clean up your department's web pages. Toss old news and events, delete outdated information, and begin to add and/or develop new content for the summer months and upcoming fall semester.

Please keep in mind the various tools our web content management systems offers to enhance your site with photography, e-newsletters, feature boxes, and online forms.

The WCM department is here to assist you with any of these special features, as well as help your department with your social media efforts.

Contact WCM for more details.

Get Your Website in Shape with Web Boot Camp!

Is your department's website in need of a makeover? Need help or motivation? Contact WCM today to schedule a two-hour boot camp with Web Content Management and get your site in shape!

In a nutshell, we will go over your website on the big screen, deleting old content and adding new content LIVE on-the-spot. We will review competitor's websites for best practices, discuss processes and ways to improve customer service by streamlining content and reorganizing your site navigation. For content edits that are more involved, we create an action plan and task list to complete moving forward.

WCM has hosted several successful boot camps with departments across campus. The results and feedback are always positive.

"That is the best two hours I spent all year," said one department chair.

Email sitefeedback@sacredheart.edu and schedule your Web Boot Camp today!

From Digital Advertising to Irish Studies . . . new programs = new websites!

Sacred Heart University is pleased to announce several new academic programs of study! From digital advertising and Irish studies, to fashion marketing and performing arts, the following new programs are fresh and exciting!

To learn more, check out the following new program websites just recently launched:

• Minor in Irish Studies
  
• Concentration in Digital Advertising
  
• Minor in Fashion Marketing & Merchandising
  
• Minor in Performing Arts

Looking for fresh ways to enhance or update your academic program website? Contact WCM today!

Take a Virtual Tour of our Residential Halls

Have you ever wondered what our residential halls look like from the inside? If you have not had the  opportunity to visit our campus in person yet, come and view a 360-degree virtual tour of our halls right from the SHU website!

Visit our virtual tour web site and take a stroll through Elizabeth Ann Seton Hall, Thomas Merton Hall, Christian Witness Commons, Scholars Commons and Angelo Roncalli Hall.

Of course, you may also take a virtual tour of the SHU campus and visit our academic buildings and classrooms, library, student union, dining halls and more!

New Student Commons Coming 2012 - Watch Live Construction from our Webcam

Watch LIVE VIDEO of the construction of our New Student Commons Building - Coming 2012! Check out the new Student Commons website which details its features, design, and ways you can donate today!

 
Ours is an education of the whole person. Integral to that are the interactions that take place among our students, and among our students and faculty. The new Student Commons will be a place where those important connections can be made.

University Website is #1 Marketing Tool for Student Recruitment

According to the results in the E-Expectations 2010 report, a  study sponsored by  Noel-Levitz, OmniUpate and the National Research Center for College & University Admissions, the more than 1,000 college-bound students surveyed indicate that a school's website is a critical tool in determining their college selection process.

Download the full report here: E-Expectations 2010 report. In a nutshell, here is a summary of the survey conclusions:

1. Recognize that your external website is your number one recruitment marketing tool
2. Make content on academics and cost to attend detailed and easy to find
3. Give students an easy way to estimate their cost of attending, right on your site (Note: The U.S. federal goverment has mandated that all U.S. college and universities provide a net price calculator on their web sites by fall 2011)
4. Supplement your official content with unofficial social media content
5. Consider setting up your own private social networking site
6. Focus your social media efforts on the channels that will have the greatest enrollment impact
7.  Unmask secret shoppers through e-mail
8. Explore your competition the way students would 

Another important factor to consider  is the way student's are accessing a website. The report indicates that 23% of students are using their smartphones (i.e., iPhone, Android, and Blackberry) to access school websites. According to Mark Greenfield, Director of Web Services at State University of New York at Buffalo, "The era of the mobile web is on the horizon and something we all should be preparing for. The move to mobile represents a complete paradigm shift that be the most significant change since the introduction of the browser."

While content is a critical component of a college website, interactive features such as video, online catalogs and forms, virtual tours and of course, social media, play an integral role in a student's  website experience. 

As technology evolves, our students' online behaviors will evolve, and it is our job as higher education professionals to keep up!!