Minutes (Aug. 2, 2007) Web Advisory Committee
Present: Dr. Keith Krolick, Alan Miller, Debbie Valle, Kat Myers, Dr. Nedal Arar, Tim Presley, Dr. Sara Gill, Katie Prentice, Dr. Bob Badgett, Natalie Gutierrez, Mary Yanes, and Jim Barrett.
Dr. Nedal Arar, acting for the chair, called the meeting to order. Committee members approved the June 21 minutes.
Jim Barrett gave the webmaster's report. He said:
- Server traffic on the institutional servers in July rose 3 percent over the same month in 2006. Traffic had been down for the past five months, he said.
- Programming was nearly complete to use eCV data to update the web-based Faculty Profiles. Mr. Barrett said faculty members
would be given a choice to publish a summary of their research or academic interests that they could compose in eCV. The project dates back more than a year, and is designed
to keep Faculty Profiles complete and up to date.
- The new portal sign-in page with internal news made its debut July 9. The news is being prepared and posted
by the Office of External Affairs. He thanked Natalie Gutierrez and Rosanne Fohn, who worked on the project
from External Affairs. Dr. Sara Gill said the page is attractive and easy to navigate.
- PHP-MySQL, an open-source scripting and database combination, will be offered on an institutional server
at a date to be announced in the future.
In new business, the committee members discussed the university's planned marketing and branding initiative, and how
best to implement its graphical changes on the web.
Several committee members said they would like to begin planning for the changes, but they do not know what will be required. The branding initiative includes creation of a university logo, tag line, and style for print and web publications, and advertising. Ms. Gutierrez said she thought the Atkins Group, the consultant on the initiative, would send a representative to talk to the committee soon.
Mr. Barrett asked members what would be the most effective way to get departments to make the changes. Members almost unanimously said orders need to come from their dean or vice president, perhaps through an administrator, who could judge the expense and amount of time that would be devoted to the project.
Dr. Gill said she is concerned that the changeover might pull web developers off of course creation in WebCT. Course creation and changes
are crucial before the start of each semester, she said. If the projects conflict, Dr. Gill said, instructors may not get the help they need to prepare their courses.
Dr. Bob Badgett said he would like to know whether the page header proposed by the consultants could be changed to allow a search text box, or be made narrower to adapt to certain web pages.
Katie Prentice said the Atkins group should call meetings with the web developers, and provide general specifications for the work that needs to be done. Ms. Prentice said the developers could then estimate the time and expense of the changes, and report back to their dean or vice president
for approval. She said the meetings would allow web developers to begin planning, and have sites ready on a designated date for the changeover.
There was no other business, and the meeting was adjourned.
-- Minutes prepared by Mary Yanes
-- Approved Sept. 6, 2007
