The Bowdoin Orient

December 1, 2000
Volume CXXIII, Number 10

Bowdoin to overhaul webpage

by Kitty Sullivan, STAFF WRITER

   In an open forum earlier this month, students and faculty met to discuss a future new look and feel for Bowdoin's online presence. The forum was held with the web-designing firm Smash Advertising, affiliated with Jan Krakowski and Co. of New York City.
   In today's increasingly electronic world, a website is vital to a college, not only for prospective students who rely increasingly on online information and applications, but also for alumni who keep in touch with the college through the internet.
   At Bowdoin, students also depend on the college website for everything from library research, to e-mail, to the online dining hall menu.
   Originally, in 1995, Bowdoin's website consisted of one page that said it was under construction. In the winter of 1996, a former student employed at the communications office created a text-heavy website with a brochure-like format.
   Since the Internet took off, the site has grown from 50-60 pages to 58,000 active server pages and is maintained by a webmaster. However, due to the large volume of sites and the constant need for updating, the management of the College's website has become more than a one-person job.
   The need for a professional update has been more apparent with the proliferation of prospective students who use the Internet to help make their college decisions and to apply to college.
   According to Scott Hood, director of communications and public affairs, "If we have prospective students online, they want a sense of the college, so they'll look at actual sites of interest. Our website needs something there that's accurate and consistently lets you know that you're at a Bowdoin webpage."
   Currently, there are no standards for the various pages on the site, and each area or department can have its own style, its own way of site navigation, and its own type of page-building software. All these factors can lead to confusion and do not give web-surfers as structured and user-friendly of an impression as the College would like.
   Smash Advertising has taken these concerns into consideration and, according to Hood, will provide Bowdoin with more "streamlined and simplified sites."
   They will return in February with prototypes from which departments such as Computer Information Services (CIS) and the Educational Technology Center (ETC) can choose.
   So far, the changes will require a major overhaul of the system and are scheduled to be implemented this spring. The set goal for completion of the project is the fall of 2001.
   The web-redesigning will not be undertaken by Smash alone. CIS, ETC, and the Communications Department have formed a web-developers group that specializes in the technical aspects of the overhaul, while the Web Working Group, composed of faculty and staff, will focus on the more "hands-on" and content-related aspects of the website construction.
   Overall, Bowdoin's goal in the website project is to boost its online image and make the sites more standardized and simplified.