UND Developing Web Site for External Audiences, Launches “Blog” To Keep Campus Updated About Web Site Progress
March 31, 2010
Dear University Community:
The University of North Dakota is poised for an exceptional future. The way in which we present the University to the rest of the world is a critical piece of becoming exceptional. Since our Web site is the most widely-used global resource for information about UND, we have begun an intense process for building a new UND Web site. This project goes beyond creating a new visual look; it will represent a new architecture designed specifically for reaching our external audiences. A separate and secure internal Internet environment — an Intranet, if you will — will become the main communication tool for the informational needs of internal audiences, including students, faculty, staff, and administrators.
To guide the process, the President’s Cabinet approved the following purpose statement: “A significant marketing tool for the University, the Web site will be redesigned as the primary interface between the University of North Dakota and its key external constituency groups (such as prospective students, their families and alumni).”
The President’s Cabinet also created a Web Oversight Committee (WOC), which began meeting in October 2009 using the above purpose statement as its guide to outline the structure, priorities and execution of the new site. The team is led by Peter Johnson and Dr. Josh Riedy. A new Web Team has been in place as of January 2010 to begin organizing and implementing information based on the purpose statement and direction of the WOC. The Web Team is led by Nathan Clough and Amanda Hvidsten.
The goal is to have the external site completed by October 2010 to coincide with the recruiting cycle.
More information regarding what our new approach means to each college or unit on campus will be available soon. In the meantime, I invite you to visit http://webdevelopment.und.edu/ for updates, details, and other announcements.
The Web is our most effective public marketing tool, and we must use it fully and appropriately to present the information the world seeks about us. This is an exciting time and this approach will surely enhance our efforts as UND moves from great to exceptional.
Dr. Robert O. Kelley
President
Dear Members of the University Community:
Welcome back to our students and all others who were able to get away over Spring Break!
I would like to take a moment to discuss the next steps in our University-wide conversation on strengthening connections and community.
First, I offer my sincere thanks to those who attended or viewed the Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, March 9, and the many individual and group meetings that followed, especially on such short notice. Your dedication to UND is heartening. If you were not able to attend the meeting, you can view it online at www.future.und.edu starting Friday, March 26.
As I said in the Town Hall Meeting, I want this dialogue to engage as many of you as possible. The consultants from STRATUS, Sal Rinella and Doug Graham, will be returning to campus April 6-8 for additional meetings with faculty, staff, and students. There will also be two open forums in the Memorial Union Lecture Bowl: Tuesday, April 6, 9 to 10 a.m., and Wednesday, April 7, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
I encourage you to attend one of these sessions to share your thoughts and ideas about the key questions posed at the Town Hall Meeting.
Before the end of the spring semester, the consultants will summarize the results of all of the conversations and will present a set of ideas to strengthen connections and enhance community. Over the summer more details will be added to the ideas, such as their space implications, and the conversation will resume at the beginning of the Fall 2010 semester.
Again, thank you for your participation in this important process.
Robert O. Kelley
President
