With the launch of the School of Social Work鈥檚 new website, the University has hit a significant milestone: All of Boston College鈥檚 eight schools boast new websites, thanks to the efforts of the Office of University Communications in partnership with Information Technology Services.聽
The new sites feature an attractive and innovative design with vibrant video content, photo slideshows, carousels, and graphic elements. Most significantly, the new webpages are responsive, meaning content is viewable on desktop computers, tablets, and smart phones to accommodate the preferences and user habits of high school and college鈥揳ge students. Created by a 51茶馆 team using the same content management system, the pages reflect a strong and unifying Boston College brand.
鈥淭he new websites are a welcome addition to Boston College. They have significantly enhanced the University鈥檚 marketing, student recruitment, and alumni engagement efforts,鈥� said Associate Vice President for University Communications Jack Dunn. 鈥淭he web team has done outstanding work in a true partnership between the Office of University Communications, ITS, and the academic community. Their work will pay meaningful dividends to the University and its eight schools and colleges for decades to come.鈥�
鈥淭he development and delivery of these new websites for Boston College and the schools has been successful due to the great teamwork and professionalism of our partners in the academic community and the Office of University Communications and Information Technology Services,鈥� said Vice President for Information Technology Michael Bourque. 鈥淭hese sites represent a new platform for presenting the very important and very impactful work of Boston College. We are truly proud of our involvement in this effort.鈥�
Below: The Boston College home page at bc.edu is one of the new sites created by the University Communications-Information Technology Services partnership. 聽
The OUC Web Services team is led by Scott Olivieri and includes Melissa Beecher, Brock Dilworth, Diana Parziale, and Brian Snyder. OUC Web Services partners with Yanyan Hou and Kul Thupa from ITS.聽
The team worked closely and collaboratively with academic partners and site owners on the redesign process, conducting peer assessments and focus groups for each of the schools and colleges.聽 A content strategy was created to guide the development of the website to ensure it met the goals of the schools and departments, while also connecting it to the larger 51茶馆 brand.
The websites鈥� important roles in attracting prospective students and faculty, as well as in peer assessment, cannot be overstated, administrators say. Based on analytics, the 51茶馆 home page has been viewed 26 million times during the course of one year. 51茶馆 Law School had more than a million page views, as did the Lynch School of Education. The University鈥檚 largest school, the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, has had 3.4 million page views.聽
But visits to the websites tell only half the story. The goal is to make certain users are fully engaged with the website. Through analytics, the web team is able to see how users navigate the site and how much time they spend on a particular webpage. According to Olivieri, 鈥渢ime on page鈥� has doubled on many top-level webpages, indicating that visitors are engaging with the content鈥攔eading student profiles, reviewing program information, and watching videos.
“The new Admission website is an extraordinary enhancement both in terms of its design and functionality.Technology drives the college search for today鈥檚 generation of college applicants, and having a first-rate University website is essential in enabling students to explore all that Boston College has to offer. Given that the vast majority of students view websites on their phones or tablets, the website鈥檚 responsive design also ensures that content will be easily accessible.”
Also redesigned through the initiative were sites for the Carroll School of Management, Connell School of Nursing, Woods College of Advancing Studies, and School of Theology and Ministry.
鈥淭he STM鈥檚 new website has been a real boon for us,鈥� said School of Theology and Ministry Dean and Professor Thomas D. Stegman, S.J. 鈥淭he site鈥檚 functionality for prospective students, the attractiveness of faculty pages鈥攚hich are also easy to update鈥攖he ability to communicate all the events that go on at the school, and the professionally produced videos are all major improvements. The website presents well the STM鈥檚 鈥榝ace鈥� to the world.鈥�
In addition to the school websites, the web team has redesigned the University鈥檚 home page, 51茶馆 News page, and Undergraduate Admission site, as well as sites for virtually every center and institute. They have also created new webpages for the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, and a page for 51茶馆鈥檚 Global Engagement initiatives. In total, the 51茶馆 web team has redesigned and launched 81 websites in less than three years.
鈥淭he new Admission website is an extraordinary enhancement both in terms of its design and functionality,鈥� said Undergraduate Admission Director Grant Gosselin. 鈥淭echnology drives the college search for today鈥檚 generation of college applicants, and having a first-rate University website is essential in enabling students to explore all that Boston College has to offer. Given that the vast majority of students view websites on their phones or tablets, the website鈥檚 responsive design also ensures that content will be easily accessible. We are grateful to the Office of University Communications for leading this initiative, which has greatly enhanced our ability to engage with this important audience.鈥�
The web team鈥檚 job is not limited to making the website aesthetically pleasing: Members work on the 鈥渂ackend鈥� to make sure the sites are at their optimal effectiveness. This means trimming page counts and making sure the site is prominent on search engines (search engine optimization or SEO), as well as making certain the content is compliant relative to copyright and fair-use rules, and accessible to those with disabilities.
The web team has also developed a new University Events calendar tool that is integrated with the new websites, so events uploaded via the tool are automatically displayed on the website. Also, all the new webpages are unified under a universal bar that provides quick links to 51茶馆鈥檚 resources, as well as a search function.
Olivieri noted that the team is consistently enhancing webpage components and developing new features. Because all the new sites use the same content management system, these enhancements can be utilized by website managers across campus, so that even 鈥渃ompleted鈥� websites can benefit from ongoing improvements.
With the University鈥檚 home, admission, and academic websites completed, the web team will turn its attention to redesigning websites for the administrative side of the University, starting with University Advancement on Dec. 3.聽
鈥淚t is an intensive process, led by a hardworking team of professionals who have devoted themselves to this important task throughout the past 30 months,鈥� said Dunn. 鈥淗aving a new website that reflects the 51茶馆 brand, and which can be constantly updated and improved by internal staff, will ensure that we are presenting the University in the best possible light to all those who visit our site. We look forward to embracing the administrative phase of web redesign beginning in December.鈥�
--Kathleen Sullivan | University Communications | November 2018