Iowa State's homepage will have a dramatically different look -- and focus -- when the redesigned university website launches early next week.
Student recruitment is priority one for the university's new site, moving nearly the entire admissions website to www.iastate.edu. The transition is timely, as admissions enters its next recruitment and application cycle on July 1.
The new sites -- numbering more than 100 pages -- are the result of a year's worth of planning, research and development, and are scheduled to launch Monday evening, June 27. The project team includes staff from admissions, IT services and strategic relations and communications, and consultants with idfive, a Baltimore-based agency.
How to get to faculty-staff resources
Two new portal-style pages, for faculty and staff and for current students, have been designed to make it easy and convenient to access what they need for daily online work or learning. The portal page design is simple and flexible to address changing needs and priorities.
The portals provide quick access to the most-used information and resources for everyday working and learning, as determined by input from nearly 1,000 responses to an April survey of all employees, focus group interviews and a deep dive into web analytics of current sites.
To find the portal pages for the first time, direct links are available in the "Info for" dropdown menu at the top of the new homepage, next to the "Sign ons" link to the Okta login page.
One recommendation for employees is to make the faculty/staff portal page the default page each time your web browser launches. Go to your web browser "preferences" and in the startup options, set the faculty/staff portal page to automatically launch when you work online. Another option is to create a bookmark for the page, also within your browser.
Free theme package for redesigns
The new theme is being packaged for campuswide use in multiple formats and will be available this fall to all colleges, departments and units at no cost. Online training modules and a style guide outlining best practices will be included with the theme package, and the project team will offer guidance and consultation.
As part of the web redesign project, an "ecosystem" of components was created for use in custom designing college, department, unit and individual profile websites. The goal is to provide a consistent user experience with easy transitions from site to site and the same look and feel across all Iowa State sites.
The previous website theme, introduced five years ago, will sunset. Current users will be supported, but Iowa State units planning website updates or redesigns are expected to adopt the new look and theme, especially for student-serving or student-centric sites.
Admissions' "adventure" theme for student recruitment also is ending. After extensive research, admissions will introduce a new recruitment campaign during the fall semester.
Related story
- Employee survey will help prioritize central ISU portal, April 14, 2022
