December 5, 2003 Feature
University
Website Gets a Face Lift
 After
six months of planning, designing and building, Utah State University’s
new website is finally here, with a new look and feel that has
everyone talking.
Since its debut on Dec. 1, the new, edgier website has received
a lot of attention. It’s not your typical university website,
but that’s what Kirk Earl, the lead designer for the new
site, said is so great about it.
"The main objective of the site is to give the university
a youthful image that will appeal to future students,"
Earl said. "It really pushes the envelope of what a university
site can look like."
Earl, a graphics design student at Utah State, worked under
the university’s webmaster, Charles Thompson, on the project.
Thompson, with Public Relations and Marketing, joined the Utah
State team in 2000 and has since completely redesigned the university’s
website twice. The initial redesign was focused on making the
site more user-friendly, but Thompson said the new one consists
of mostly cosmetic changes with a few new features, including
a new master calendar and the much-anticipated virtual campus
tour.
"The virtual tour is such an important part of our website,"
Thompson said. "It will allow students to actually experience
Utah State campus life instead of just reading about it, which
will create a personal connection for those prospective students
with our university."
 Thompson
said the virtual tour will feature three-dimensional panoramic
shots of campus and the surrounding areas, movie clips and text
descriptions. He said they are also creating a reality-TV show
as part of the virtual tour, where websurfers can see what a
day in the life of a Utah State student is really like.
"The reality TV segment will be a great way for prospective
students to visualize themselves on Utah State’s campus,"
Thompson said. "They’ll feel like they’re actually
hanging out with the students in the reality show."
Aside from the new virtual tour, which should be up and running
in June 2004, the new website will work to integrate the "Think"
theme into every new page created on it.
"This is part of an ongoing effort, through the use of
print and electronic media, to reflect the quality that exists
at Utah State University," said John DeVilbiss, executive
director of Public Relations and Marketing. "Our new 'Think'
theme and standard visual elements act as threads to help tie
our messages and 'look' together. As a result, we are beginning
to have an impact in the creation of a vibrant and readily identifiable
university image."
Key to this, DeVilbiss said, is university-wide participation.
Many colleges, departments and offices on campus have already
expressed interest in adopting the new look. Starting next week,
the Office of Admissions, School of Graduate Studies and Financial
Aid office will all have the new style integrated into their
web pages.
Working on the project was a lot of fun, Thompson said, because
he worked with talented students like Earl and Jared Stanley
( lead animations developer), who Thompson said made the work
easy. Stanley, who recently graduated from Utah State, is working
in New York for MTV productions as a Flash web animation developer.
"I've been amazed at the professionalism and ability of
these students to build a world-class website." Thompson
said. "The site doesn’t have a lot of glitz and glamour
– it's very user-friendly but also very visually appealing,
which is the most important balance to have on a website."
Earl also expressed his appreciation for students who played
a key role in bringing the project together.
"It was an incredible experience to be able to work on
a large-scale project with such a talented team of students,"
he said.
Faculty and administration have also stepped up and helped
project along. Donna Barry, director of photo services for the
university, contributed many of the photos used on the site.
Joyce Kinkead, vice-provost for student services, and DeVilbiss
worked to garner funding for the project.
Early reviews of the new site have been positive. A student
who graduated in 1989 wrote to President Kermit L. Hall congratulating
him on the new look. “It is a wonderful reflection to
the world of the quality and timeliness of our fine institution
and as an alumnus, it gives me another reason to be proud of
our beloved Aggies.”
Hall responded that "we all appreciate the good work of
those who helped to redesign it."
The shelf life for the site will be approximately three years,
and Thompson said that although the feedback has been mostly
positive so far, he wants any suggestions students or faculty
might have about how to improve the site.
"I need help making the site better," he said. "If
anyone sees opportunities for improvement, especially with navigation,
I would love feedback."
To see the new website, visit www.usu.edu.
Written by Miaken Christensen, miaken@cc.usu.edu
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