Western Idaho College Student Life Website Proposal

1. Western Idaho College Student Life Website Proposal Presented by: Claudia Barton Kerrie Montgomery Christine Richmond Lilia Santiague University of Florida

2. Outline • Importance of Student Affairs Websites • Student Life Mission Statement • Statement of Philosophy • Core Values • Guiding Environmental Theory • Critique & Recommendations • Future Considerations • Implementation • Sample Homepage

3. Student Affairs Websites Can… • Help foster the goals and mission of the division and institution • Reflect the values of the division • Provide timely and accurate information accessible to all students • Encourage students to use services • Provide professionals with time for more meaningful student interactions rather than answering quick questions • Compliment the overall learning environment

4. Student Affairs Websites Can… • Attract new students • Celebrate success and give recognition • Provide connections between the institution, students, faculty, alumni, and staff • Highlight important programs and policy changes • Help create a virtual community

5. Websites should not be a substitution for face-to-face interaction, but rather a starting point- an invitation for conversation, an enticement for involvement, a call for contact between all members of the campus community.

6. The W.I.C. Student Life website should reflect the mission and goals of the department. The current website does not include the mission of the department, only the mission of the university.

7. Student Life Mission Statement The Student Life Department supports the mission of Western Idaho College by providing a variety of opportunities for students to become involved, empowered and connected while fostering the full development of their intellectual, humanitarian, and leadership potential in an environment that is sensitive to the diverse needs of the campus community. The goals of the Student Life Department include promoting continuing education, career preparation, economic mobility and independence; encouraging the participation of minority students, commuter students and “lifelong learners” in programs and services; integrating the goals of student affairs and academic affairs; and increasing the accessibility of Western Idaho College to a wide audience.

8. The goals and vision of the department’s website should be clearly outlined through a Statement of Philosophy that connects to the overall mission of the department and the institution.

9. Statement of Philosophy “We hope to capture and provide you with a glimpse of our unique and diverse campus environment. Through our website we hope to develop a virtual community and to become “the place to be,” the home page on every student’s desktop, a point of introduction, initiation, connection and involvement, that transforms and evolves with you, the student, from application to graduation. It is our intent to create a convenient, customized, accurate, and responsive tool to supplement the learning environment. We strive to provide opportunities that will affirm and empower every student to reach their fullest potential.”

10. “Student Affairs is essentially student focused and interpersonal, and our web sites should reflect our core values” (Barratt, 2001).

11. Our core values are connected to our mission and philosophy: • Inclusion • Involvement • Interaction • Connection • Convenience

12. The W. I. C. Student Life website should utilize environmental theory to help fulfill its mission and goals. Wallace (2000) applies traditional definitions of campus ecology theory to technology.

13. The following recommendations are guided by environmental theory including the ideas of: • Physical Environment • Human Aggregate • Organizational Structures • Constructed Meaning

14. Physical Environment:The physical environment of the website includes its images and form- what you see and hear, and the paths that lead you from one link to another. Our website should be a welcoming, interactive, convenient environment that all students can easily explore.

15. The website should appear immediately welcoming and relevant to all members of the campus community through its physical image. The current website does not clearly communicate the role that student life can play in the experiences of current and future students, faculty, and staff, nor does it contain images representative of the student body.

16. Recommendations • Increase students’ sense of inclusion by adding diverse images • Provide links specifically for faculty with information on how they can become more involved in student life on campus (see: http://web.mit.edu/dsl)

17. The student life website should serve as a meeting point, a gathering room, and a connection between different members of the campus community. Links should serve as two way roads between students, faculty, and staff.

18. The website should be easy to navigate, aesthetically appealing, and purposeful in content. The current website is illogical in structure, unaesthetic to the eye, and some of its features, such as the headline links, lack clear purpose.

19. Recommendations • The physical layout of each page on the site should have a common theme that is also consistent with the university’s main website • Principles of graphic design should be applied to make the site appealing to the eye • Simple is better-the website should not contain laundry lists of potential links on the homepage (see http://www.ecu.edu/studentlife for an example of a simple, yet functional homepage)

20. The website should provide added convenience to the student through its features. While the current website invites students to call or email for information, it lacks features that many users expect to find.

21. Recommendations • Add a search function • Add links to downloadable forms such as registration forms, maintenance requests, etc. • Have direct links to staff email addresses

22. The website should be interactive in order to encourage purposeful participation and enhance the overall learning environment. The current website only allows for passive viewing.

23. Recommendations • Provide an email address where students can send their questions and get an almost immediate answer • Encourage feedback from students regarding the usability of the site • Feature chat rooms that can be monitored such as faculty/student rooms or prospective/current student rooms • Offer online surveys, quizzes, or program assessments

24. The website should contain ample information to answer common questions. The current website lacks a variety of important information such as complete contact information, dates, and information on programs and services.

25. Recommendations • Include complete contact information for each unit within the department • Include links to the mission statements for each unit • Include information on important programs and activities • Include a “FAQ” link for frequently asked questions

26. The website should be accessible and useful to all students regardless of location or disability. The current website would be of little use to prospective students or students with certain types of disabilities.

27. Recommendations • Forms should be readily available and easy to download or submit online • Adhere as closely as possible to Web Accessibility Initiative guidelines for website accessibility (see Barratt, 2001 and http://www.w3.org/WAI/) • Include a statement on the homepage regarding accessibility for persons with disabilities

28. Human Scale Design“Settings characterized as human-scale in design tend to encourage greater participation and involvement of members,” (Strange & Banning, 2001, p. 143). W. I. C. is a small institution. The website should reflect the college’s size by adding a human touch to its pages. See http://www.wooster.edu/students/ and http://www.washington.edu/diversity/video.html for examples of personal student pages and student perspective videos.

29. Recommendations • Add quotations from students, faculty, and staff • Invite students to submit images of their own college experience to be featured on the homepage • Include pictures and biographies of staff • Recognize individual student leaders through a weekly or monthly feature • Recognize individual faculty who are highly involved in student life

30. Human Aggregate:On campus itself, the human aggregate eludes to the dominant features of its members. On a website, the images, structure, and content give the user a sense of what beliefs are valued and what culture is prevalent. The website should not only reflect the dominant culture on campus, it should also foster the development and creativity of the unique student.

31. Students are more likely to become involved if they feel as though they are part of a group of alike individuals (Strange & Banning, 2001). The website should foster a connection between students who are hesitant to participate and students who are leaders on campus, as well as connect students with like interests.

32. The college campus is a mosaic of unique individuals. The website should strive to communicate on a personal level with each type of student comprising the human aggregate. The current website does not clearly outline “what’s out there” for students, nor what services are provided by the department of student life.

33. Recommendations • Include searchable student organization information • Include a full list of activities • Include a calendar of events • Provide links to additional campus resources • Provide links to the surrounding community

34. Organizational Structure: The organizational structure of the website includes its hierarchy, its complexity, and one site’s relationship to another. Just as departments collaborate in the physical sense, so too should they collaborate in the virtual world. Department websites should not be encapsulated units separate from the institutional entity.

35. Form follows function. The website should reflect first and foremost the way the site is used. “Wayfinding” design (Strange & Banning, 2001) is just as important in the design of a website as it is in the design of campus grounds. While features such as quick links are useful, the overall design of the current website is difficult to navigate and does not clearly lead users to the information they may be seeking.

36. In order to determine the utility of the site we must ascertain: • What information students want to access most frequently • What information is most useful to certain groups of students such as prospective versus current students, and residential versus commuter students

37. Recommendations • Important information should be no more than three links from the homepage • All units within the department should have links grouped in one location • Each unit within the department should have consistent links such as: events, announcements, programs, and staff • Items specific to one unit, such as policies and procedures for residence life, should not be listed as a quick link, but rather as a link from the residence life page

38. There should be links specific to each member of the target audience including: • Current students • Prospective students • Faculty • Staff • Parents • Alumni

39. Constructed Meaning:The overall image and feeling of a website will be different for each user based on their own unique perspective and experience. “We create a constructed meaning from our website experience exclusively. The image conveyed through the web becomes the reality of the college for web visitors” (Wallace, 2000, p. 3).

40. A student who visits the website should gain a sense of the college’s values and culture. The prospective student may determine if the college is a good fit, while the current student may feel a sense of community and connection. The current website has no “feel”. It fails to portray the campus culture.

41. “Those institutions most successful at enculturating a tradition of involvement among students are culturally distinctive in the sense that they create an attractive and powerful “feel,” apparent immediately to prospective participants in the setting,” (Strange & Banning, 2001, p. 153). The website has the potential to significantly contribute to the overall feel of the college to prospective and current students.

42. Recommendations • Include challenging and motivating slogans such as: • W. I. C.: Where Involvement Counts! • Get a Life- Get Involved! • Become a Leader! • It’s your life. It’s your time. Get involved! • How do you want to change?

43. Recommendations • Add audio such as the college’s fight song • Examine the type of language used: formal versus informal. We should maintain professionalism and correct grammar, but at the same time have a relaxed feel • Use the first person when addressing information to students. Example: “Come join us Friday!” rather than, “Students are encouraged to attend the social Friday.”

44. While the initial goal of the committee should focus on creating a user-friendly and informative website, additional features should be considered for future use.

45. Future Considerations • Campus portals (see Kruger, 2000, http://www.naspa.org/netresults/article.cfm?ID=42) • Virtual tours of campus • Web-cams • Online orientation preparation programs (such as “Preview Prep,” University of Florida, Division of Student Affairs) • Co-curricular transcripts http://www.stulife.cmich.edu/sdr.shtml and http://campuslife.indiana.edu/) • Interactive job search tools (such as GatorTrak, University of Florida, www.crc.ufl.edu)

46. Implementation • Maintenance-A clear outline must be made regarding who is responsible for creating and maintaining the website • Evaluation-The new website should be evaluated by both students and staff to determine if it is user friendly • Advertising-The new website should be advertised through listservs, flyers posted in student life offices, new student orientation programs, and direct interaction

47. Sample Homepage http://plaza.ufl.edu/kamroma/WIC%20Case%20Study/

48. References Barratt, W. (2001). Models for evaluating student affairs websites. Student Affairs Online, 2. Retrieved February 18, 2003, from http://studentaffairs.com/ejournal/Spring_2001/will1.html Kruger, K. (2000, December 4). Designing campus portals-From a student affairs perspective. Netresults. Retrieved February 18, 2003, from http://www.naspa.org/netresults/article.cfm?ID=42 Strange, C. C., & Banning, J. H. (2001). Educating by design. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Wallace, H. (2000). Campus ecology theory and websites: One example of applying traditional student affairs theory to technology. Student Affairs Online, 1. Retrieved February 18, 2003, from http://studentaffairs.com/ejournal/Fall_2000/wallace.htm