XIV.   Web Pages and Maintenance

Contact person:  Ann O'Grady (ogrady@uwyo.edu) University Public Relations (PR) offers a content management system that can help you keep your website attractive and current. For more information see visual communications page on the PR website.

 Web pages present a public image for the university, college, and department.  As such, they are a means of communicating with our prospective and current students, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends.  The Chronicle of Higher Education directed our attention to what University of Georgia Web designers call the "Seven C's of WebService Design." Although not recent, the ideas are still appropriate:

      ·        Comprehensiveness — Complete coverage at the closest possible point of knowledge.
·        Current-ness — Accurate static information and up-to-date changing information.
·        Client-Orientation — Responsive to requests from Web visitors.
·        Clarity over Coolness — Simplicity and directness preferred over fancy visual techniques.
·        Courtesy over Coolness — Pages should load in a reasonable amount of time for the visitors.
·        Compatibility without Compromise — Support of different browser environments.
·        Cross-Linking and Validation — Multiple paths to information with checks for valid links.

Heads should appoint someone to maintain Web pages.  Department Web pages should provide convenient access to:

      ·        Information for prospective students
·        Information for current students
·        Information for alumni and potential donors
·        Information for faculty, staff, and their colleagues here and elsewhere

The university administration periodically prepares the “look” for the Web pages, including a template to be used for the department home page.  Contact UW Public Relations for more information and assistance.

These suggestions for content may be helpful.

For department and program pages include:

  1. Name of department and college
  2. Approved logo or wording to identify the University of Wyoming
  3. Information about the department or program with links to specific topics, i.e. major and minor curricula, clubs, etc. (don't make the page too long, break up information whenever possible)
  4. Link to listing of department head or program director, faculty, and staff with phone numbers, mailing addresses, and e-mail addresses
  5. Links to college home page, UW home page, Alumni home page, and Admissions home page
  6. Include interesting alumni / development information
  7. Each department and program should have its own e-mail address. Not an individual's address
  8. The department or program should list its phone number, mailing address, and e-mail address for contact purposes
  9. Highlight department or program information as outlined in the Academic Plan or Support Service Plan
  10. The icon and link for giving. https://uwsecureweb.uwyo.edu/giveonline/

For student recruiting pages:

1.   Highlight the program's high points.
2.   Highlight the successes of graduates.
3.   Highlight the faculty and their profiles (including fun things about them, like the faculty member that is the frisbee champ). It is believed that students really turn on to the human side of the faculty member who is their potential mentor.
4.   Capture information about the students currently in the program via quotes, photos, etc.
5.   Highlight scholarships within the college /department /program.
6.   Highlight activities that the college or department does to "form community" with their students, social activities, Honors Symposium, etc.
7.   Highlight student organizations and honoraries in the college or department.
8.   Identify a contact person and e-mail address.
9.   Include an automatic reply back to the students and/or provide someone who can immediately respond to their questions.
10. Invite the student to visit the campus.
11. Link back to the Admissions page so they can apply for admission.
12. Be sure to keep Web page attractive, easy to browse, current, and informative.
13. Use clear and accurate words.
14. Use great visual design and content.

Two caveats are in order.  Do not post pictures of people without their written permission.  Also, do not post copyrighted material unless you own the copyright.

 When working on your Web pages, feel free to visit other sites both here at UW and elsewhere. Not only can you get good ideas from other sites, but also in some cases you can save a page from a site and then edit it for your program. Most sites are not copyrighted.  However, be sure to observe copyrights.