Date:
6/21/2002
Contact: Wendel Sloan at 505.562.2253
ENMU is enjoying a fresh, new look to the University website. The new design supports a more efficient structure with fully updated information. Along with having a more modern feel, the site is much more navigable, and the design will allow for growth in the years to come. Contributions from Eastern's students, staff and faculty led to this innovative new design for the website. ENMU incorporated these suggestions, and partnered with a web design company of Albuquerque, NM, Net//works! Inc., for the new website unveiled on June 21, 2002.
For more information concerning the ENMU Web, contact the Office of Communication Services at 505.562.2134, or e-mail the University webmaster at webmaster@enmu.edu.
ENMU Unveils New Web Site
by Wendel Sloan
ENMU Communication Services
PORTALES – Eastern New Mexico University unveiled its new web site at noon on Friday, June 21. Several months in the making, the new site at www.enmu.edu offers visitors fully updated information on the University in an easily navigable format.
Working with Net//Works of Albuquerque, Eastern's students, faculty and staff spent several thousand hours conceiving, developing and updating the site.
"It gives our website a fresh, new look," says Dr. Patrice Caldwell, coordinator of the information process. "People will notice the look, but what's really important is the content. Visitors can rely on it being updated."
The re-designed web site is key to ENMU's strategy to use the Internet as a recruiting tool. In addition, the web site will be used to communicate online with existing students, staff and faculty.
In January of 2001 the university issued an RFP for the web redesign project. Net//works! was selected to complete the web redesign and began working on the project last July.
"We needed more than a makeover, we needed a complete overhaul," said Caldwell, ENMU's director of Planning and Analysis/Institutional Renewal. "The old web site was ineffective as a recruiting tool and as a method of communicating with members of our campus. Information was difficult to find and the web site did not reflect the uniqueness of the University. We knew the re-design would be a challenge, but we're very pleased with the end product."
Elements of the re-design included condensing 1,500 pages down to about 500, implementing design templates for easier long-term maintenance, organizing the layout of the web site into a more logical structure, and building a web site search program.
Eastern has created a webmaster position (ENMU graduate and former All-American volleyball and basketball player Jennifer Poyer) to maintain the integrity of design and structure as the web site grows.
"We have a great University," Poyer says, "and now our web site captures the quality, spirit and style of Eastern. This is my dream job; to be able to be the webmaster for my alma mater and to help make Eastern's web site as great as the school is."
Caldwell noted that the University Computer Center was instrumental in making the web site a reality, along with the contributions of students, faculty and staff.
"The web site is our number one publication," says Caldwell. "It's our most powerful way of reaching our audience. Eastern has always had a powerful story to tell, and now we feel that our web site is equal to the task."