Date: August 19, 2005
Contact: pr@andrews.edu
Website:
Phone: 269-471-3322

Crucial to Andrews University web-coordinator Martin Lee’s ongoing initiative to synchronize the content and appearance of Andrews University’s website is the transfer of editing permissions to department heads. August 16 heralded the long-anticipated opening of the Collage editing system, which signaled the launch of departmental coaching in the content management system (CMS). The ongoing process will ensure departmental heads receive both the training and permissions necessary to manage and update their own web content, which will free Lee from the sole responsibility of handling the discrepancies and inaccuracies that inevitably arise within a website’s linkage system. 

Now that Lee has granted initial permissions, the Center for Distance Learning and Instructional Technology, headed by Marsha Beal, is now responsible for the actual departmental training process. Beal, who has recently been inducted into the CMS system herself, says, “I anticipate departments soon having control—for the first time—over the time frame within which web content gets entered and updated.”

Because web editing can be an overwhelming task for the amateur, the Collage editing system features templates to ensure both editing ease and web page consistency. Trained department heads will simply enter their respective content into these existing templates, much like they would in an online form or Word document. Says Robert Fuste, assistant web-coordinator, “Now that the look and logistics of the templates are set up, we’re very excited to equip campus departments with the tools necessary to update their web content.”

To better facilitate fall registration and financial clearance, Student Financial Services received editing approval early on and has already completed its updating process. While all campus departments will eventually receive training, the focus of initial training sessions—tentatively set to begin August 22 and 23—will be on the College of Arts and Sciences. Based on a list by Lee and enrollment’s Stephen Payne, Arts and Sciences web pages have been prioritized for recruiting purposes. Remaining departments can expect to be contacted by trainers in the near future.

Web staff expects updated department sites will rapidly become valuable information hubs—especially for students who’ve yet to choose a major. “In the past,” Fuste notes, “students may have been wrongly influenced by a particular department’s lack of webpage content—or the lure of one with plenty.” But with the push toward consistency, accuracy, and ease of navigation between department sites, Fuste anticipates both prospective and current students will soon be able to make quicker and more informed academic decisions. With the promise of such benefits, one can safely assume departments will gladly help keep andrews.edu—the university’s “foremost recruiting tool,” according to Beal—as accurate and aesthetically pleasing as possible.