It has taken eight months to develop. It features scrolling new photographs fading in and out every seven seconds and a sleek modern typeface.
The new VCU Web site tonight at 6 will replace the current 2-year-old one.
“It’s more intuitive,” said Sue Ann Messmer, chief of staff of the President’s office and vice president for external relations.
The new design features a fresh look for its home and 16 sub-home pages, including the “for current students” and libraries pages. New creations include pages for graduate and international students, “things to do around VCU,” an interactive slideshow of “VCU in pictures” and a page about Richmond. Most notably the site is completely reorganized with new navigational menus and a consistent layout.
Messmer sent an e-mail late last month to all VCU students describing the project, providing a preview link to the site and asking for comments and suggestions. Most feedback was positive, despite a frustration with the need to scroll down the screen to get to most links, such as those to Blackboard and university phone numbers.
The design team also received comments about the use of a blue color scheme instead of a black and gold one and accordingly switched them. After requests, the designers placed the VCU Ram logo on the link to the new “show your spirit” Web page.
Other new features include “about VCU,” which provides general university information, a scroll-down list of links to every academic department, an expanded A-to-Z list of all online features and a more prominently displayed calendar and list of upcoming events.
Some elements, including streaming video and links to podcasts, are novel to the site. “Things to do around VCU” lists dates and times for lectures, sports games, concerts, plays and other events around campus. It also catalogs local restaurants, parks and shopping centers.
While many students said they have not yet seen the new Web site, those who have seem to like it.
Until the university implements the new Web site at http://www.vcu.edu, you can find the functional prototype at http://www.preview.vcu.edu.
“It’s better organized,” said Joy Khetani, a freshman business major. “On the old site, it’s really hard to find stuff.”
Still, others like the current site and worry about changes.
“Webmail, Blackboard and everything’s pretty easy to get to,” said Steve Conaway, a junior art major. “Since I’m a third year, I’m kind of used to it. Hopefully they just don’t try to add too much to it and make it more confusing than it should be, like the whole Facebook incident. That was terrible.”
To keep the new Web site user friendly and support the large quantity of new pages, VCU has funded a new position for content update and maintenance. The search for the position is expected to begin within a month.
Other Virginia universities have paid top dollar to private companies for their redesigned Web sites, including the $90,000 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University site completed in July. But VCU’s existing staff created its new site with no extra budget, with about a half-dozen extra individuals working on it since early 2006.
“It’s important to update sites every couple of years, and we intend to continue to do that,” Messner said. “We are always seeking ways to heighten pride in VCU and to better ‘brand’ the university. We think the new site helps with both.”
Messner expects the Web site to last about two years before it is renovated again.
Despite extensive focus group sessions with students and administrators, the design team did not make some desired changes.
Jay Liverman, a freshman theater performance major, said the only flaw of the site is that e-Services will not be available 24 hours a day.
“E-Services should be 24 hours just to accommodate the students who get in late and need to check something late at night,” he said.
E-Services and the VCU Police and bookstore Web sites will retain their designs, as they are divisions of the main VCU site not considered general university information.
Fans of the old look, like sophomore international studies major Chelsea Demille, may find such stalwarts comforting.
“I just like how it’s easily accessible,” she said about the current Web site. “I can go to ‘current students’ and everything’s there. I go to e-mail, Blackboard. I search for schedules. I use the search a lot.
“But I’m willing to try something new, too.”