We know you’ll have questions throughout this process and we want to be sure we can answer all of them. Below are some initial FAQs to get us started. We’ll update this post with questions that are submitted to webproject@cmich.edu, so please send in any questions that come to mind.
Can I still make changes to my page(s)?
Absolutely! We still want visitors to be able to find what they need. Please continue to update the content on your site as we move through this process. But, if what you’re looking for is a design change, it’s best to wait because we’ll have a whole new “Lean and Clean” set of templates to work with soon.
Who is doing the web design project?
The executive sponsors for the website redesign project are:
- President Robert Davies
- Provost Mary C. Schutten
- Ian Davison
- Angelica Gomez
- Betty Kirby
- Roger Rehm
- Heather Smith
- Tony Voisin
The Core Project Team, which manages the day-to-day activities for the project, is:
- Abby Dean
- Jennifer Stilwell
- Amy White
- Darcie Wilson
Our industry partner is mStoner, a web communications firm well versed in the higher education space. Their expertise in web strategy and communications provides guidance throughout the entire process from discovery through launch.
Will we still have three sites?
No. We will no longer have three sites. Information from all three sites (global.cmich.edu, cmich.edu and go.cmich.edu) will be taken into account as we build this new site. We’ll work diligently to be sure that we maintain critical information for the disparate audiences of those sites.
We recently redesigned our website, what will happen now?
This redesign will cover our entire web presence, even if you’ve just recently undergone a redesign. The goal with this project is to create a dynamic, consistent web presence for the institution.
What changes can we expect?
One of the reasons this project is so exciting is that we’re taking a holistic view of the site and making the changes necessary to engage our audiences on a whole new level. That said, we’re only in the beginning stages, so here’s what we know now about where we’re going:
- We’ll launch just one external facing site with messaging and critical information from our three current sites: cmich.edu, go.cmich.edu and global.cmich.edu. The focus of our external site is simple: recruitment.
- We’ll launch an intranet site as well, intended to house information for internal audiences – current students and families, alumni, faculty, staff, etc.
- The new phrase for the content on our site is “Lean and Clean.” The wireframes and content models for the pages will follow best practices in web development. This will give us a solid framework as we build the site, as well as provide good guidance on how to maintain our site in the leanest and cleanest way.
- We’re rethinking our information architecture as well to ensure that the information students are most looking for is easily found.
What’s the timeline? When will the new site launch?
It’s quite early in the process to have an accurate launch date. That said, our goal is to launch the site before the spring semester in 2021. You could consider this project much like building a house, in that once we start building, we may run into unforeseen issues that will extend the timeline. We are dedicated to moving the project along as quickly as possible, without sacrificing the quality of our goal.
I have questions not covered
Please send an e-mail to webproject@cmich.edu.