After using the same website for ten years, Northwestern State University of Louisiana launched a redesigned website on Sept. 15.
Cole Gentry, NSU’s chief marketing officer, shared that the idea of a website redesign first surfaced more than two years ago during the presidency of Marcus Jones. However, before the project took off, NSU underwent a change in president.
Current president James Genovese played a major role in moving the project forward. Gentry explained when Genovese spoke with faculty, staff, students and community members, he learned about the outdated website.
“He thought a new website would increase attention to our university and bring awareness to prospective students and their families about NSU,” Gentry said. “While we managed and developed the new site, it was the idea and strong support from the president that made it possible.”
Gentry believes that the changes will be impactful for the university. “I think when parents and students go to our website now, they are going to think ‘wow, this is a really nice user experience, and I can really see my child at NSU’,” Gentry said.
To bring this project to life, NSU partnered with Push10, a website agency specializing in nonprofits and educational institutions, to develop the new design and layout of the website.
Amy Lee, director of marketing and branding, helped screen potential companies before Push10 was selected and has worked closely on the project since the beginning.
“The new site is so user-friendly for incoming students and parents. It’s designed exactly for that purpose. The search functions are much improved, the design and layout are fresh, and I think it will really set us apart from other universities,” Lee said.
Looking ahead, Gentry emphasized the importance of consistent updates to keep the website current.
To help users navigate the new layout of the website, Gentry said that Push10 is currently developing a custom sitemap that will be called the A-Z directory. This site map will list all topics covered on the website and link to the page to find the information of the topic. The inspiration for this feature comes from the Ohio State University A-Z lists.
Greg Granger, professor of history and academic advisor, discussed how the new website design is not a drastic change and does not affect him considerably.
“It is very student-oriented both for recruitment and current student purposes,” Granger said. “I do not think that the redesign would affect my teaching or research. It would be more relevant to my role as academic advisor.”
Granger hopes the update website attracts positive attention to the university and “aids current and future students in making informed decisions.”
Sharye Belcher, Potpourri Editor-in-Chief, shared how the new website update is a big
adjustment for all of campus but makes it difficult for organizations that depend on the NSU website to deliver correct information.
Potpourri, NSU’s yearbook, relies on the website to find contact information for faculty and staff in order to interview them on topics they are featuring.
A problem that students and faculty have been facing is coming across a “page not found” message when being directed to a specific link from their web provider. Belcher explained that she feels like the information was completely wiped from the website now that it has been updated.
“Usually, we just look up the faculty member, and it would take us straight to their page with all their contact information,” Belcher said. “But now, we’ll look up information about a topic, and the old information is not available anymore.”
While the website redesign has brought both praise and constructive feedback to the NSU community, it will take a while for everyone to adapt to the new layout.
