Archive for the ‘President and VPs’ Category

Public Relations: Make sure you monitor bloggers posting about your university

Does your PR office think blogs are just a fad? Does your media relations specialist thinks s/he can just ignore interview requests from bloggers? Well, you might want to let your PR people know that some bloggers can be as dangerous as reporters — and should be treated with the utmost care. Obviously, I’m not […]

Duke University iPod first-year experience: So, was it worth it?

You’ll have to read the 15-page final report about this initiative (see my post “iPod, you Pod, we all Podcast in higher edâ€¦. Really?” for some background information on iPods and Duke) released yesterday by the Center for Instructional Technology at Duke University to find out. No, I’m just kidding. Although this report available in […]

Top 3 website strategic goals?

Imagine you could stop designing, developing, editing or webmastering and take the time to talk about your website strategic goals with your director, VP, Dean or even with the President — of the University/College. Imagine you could ask all your stakeholders about their high-level expectations for the website (we’re not talking about more photos, colors […]

Your university website needs more than a Content Management System

In “Content management systems only part of solution,” Georgina Hibberd from the University of Sydney reminds us that a CMS will only help manage content: A fully automated system that makes the entering of content easier does not make it easier to produce interesting, well-written and timely content. Someone has to take responsibility for the […]

Why get an “award-winning” university website?

Getting one of the numerous awards for your last website redesign won’t make you rich. But, showing your VP (and the rest of the campus community) that your redesign team has built an “award-winning” website will be priceless — especially at budget-discussion time. I know, I know: the biggest reward comes from happy users and […]

When a Dean blogs for her students, faculty, staff and alums

While current students’ blogs are used more and more as promotional channels by marketing offices, you (at least, I) wouldn’t think that Deans were the blogging type. Somehow, I thought they just didn’t fit the blogger’s profile. Well, I was wrong… The Dean of Park School of Communications at Ithaca College in NY, Dianne Lynch, […]

How to measure the ROI of the college website?
Step 2: set up a website dashboard

Website development and maintenance cost money. That’s why we are all looking for ways to show how expenses associated to the Website shouldn’t be seen as costs but investments. Measuring the website ROI (return on investment) is a good way to make this point in your annual website reports. Once the website strategic goals have […]

How to measure the ROI of the college website?
Step 1: define strategic goals

In its latest issue Educause Review features an article by Brian L. Hawkins and Diana G. Oblinger that deals with The Myth about Saving Money in IT. The authors introduce the topic with the following statement: “Claims that investing in information technology will save money for a college or university have rarely proven true. In […]

It takes a crossover pro to manage the university website

I’ve just read “Do You Know a Crossover Pro?”, an article written by the consultant John Savarese for Campus Technology. What’s a crossover pro? “A new breed of administrator (…): the crossover specialist who understands both IT and functional sides”. Even if web professionals are not mentioned in this article, people taking care of higher […]

Does your college/university website comply with the ADA?

Is it accessible to students, faculty or staff with disabilities? The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 spelled out some specific requirements for higher education institutions. As quoted in a pamphlet about Auxiliary Aids and Services for Postsecondary Students with Disabilities from the US Department of Education, section […]

How many admission marketing dollars should be spent on the web?

According to this article published in University Business last month, 31.6% of the total amount spent to recruit a student should be allocated to the College website and 11.1% on email communications. In her article, UB associate editor Alana Klein makes a very good case about the major role played by college websites in enrollment […]