Digital team updates campus on website design process

Earlier this year, the digital team unveiled the renderings of the “dream house” when presenting the homepage design to the campus community. Now, they’ve moved on to the architectural phase of the project.

“The entire house, room by room, now has to be designed and built out,” said Marcus Sarkesian, director of digital strategy. “All of this work will ensure that our new website is well-built, functional, maintainable and sturdy enough for future additions and renovations.”

This work includes information architecture—the structure for how users will find what they need—and design work—how reusable components are defined and how they look. Numerous campus stakeholders have participated in work sessions to review major sections of the core site, including academics, campus life and admissions.

The digital team also made progress on a new content management system (CMS), announcing that Drupal will replace Typo3. The selection process included vendor presentations, demonstration testings by department representatives and evaluation of six key criteria: usability, utility, strategy, technology, agility and cost.

“Drupal was selected based on its large development and support community, high level of adoption by other higher-ed institutions, ability to implement reusable design components, many options for website hosting and long-term growth potential,” Sarkesian said.

The team is in the final stages of evaluating Drupal solution providers to assist in the initial system design and implementation. Once the vendor is selected, Sarkesian said, the building of the ‘dream house’ will begin.

In the coming weeks and months, the digital team will share information about content migration plans, training, transitional work and timing of the launch. If you have questions or feedback about the process, please contact your campus digital group department representative:

• Armen Zakarian, CECS
• Elizabeth Fomin, CASL
• Beth Marmarelli, External Relations & Institutional Advancement
• Judy Modelski, Business Affairs
• Julia Daniel Walkuski, Library
• Michael Kamen, COB
• Sherie Modelski, ITS
• Trista Wdziekonski, Provost Office & Academic Programs
• Stein Brunvand, SOE
• Bob Goffeney, ITS
• Deb Peffer, EMSL