MIDDLEBURY, Vt.—On Saturday, September 4, Middlebury College launched a redesigned, restructured web site, another step in a continuing effort to improve the College's online presence. While the new look will be the most obvious change, the new site is also designed to make it easier for visitors to find the information they need.
"The new site has been designed to reflect the vitality and strengths of the College," says Michael D. Schoenfeld, vice president for College Advancement. "It's much more visually engaging, with photography and information that really showcase our students, faculty, and campus."
Principal goals for the site are to attract prospective students who are the best fit for Middlebury; to provide a more effective and efficient tool for communicating to alumni, parents, donors, and the general public; and to provide a framework that makes it easier for individual departments to use the site for their own communications needs.
The redesign includes new photography and a feature called "My Midd Experience," in which Middlebury students and young alumni share their own stories about Middlebury with visitors to the site.
Middlebury worked with BigBad, a Boston-based Web design firm whose educational clients include Harvard, Smith, Simmons, and MIT, on the new design and structure for the site. This summer, the Web Services Team at the College, with help from the Communications Office, worked on applying the new design across the whole www.middlebury.edu site, and moving content from the current site into new page templates.
Top-level sites within www.middlebury.edu -- for example, Admissions, Academics, Campus Life, Arts, Administration -- have been moved into the new design. Some sections of the site below that top level are being moved into the new look, but many others -- including nearly all academic departments and most administrative offices -- received an interim design treatment that incorporates most facets of the new look.
This fall, the Communications Office, with help from the Web Services Team, will work with these departments and offices on restructuring content and fully implementing the new design.
The online improvements are expected to continue later this year with a virtual tour of the Middlebury campus and a campus map, additional new content and photography, and upgrades to the College's online alumni community.