Published in the Lee Clarion.
A major redesign to Lee University’s Web site went live Monday evening, January 26.
Functionality for the site that allows users to easily create personalized accounts, as well as other new features, will be rolled out a piece at a time throughout the semester, Craig Gray, director of Information Services & Technology said.
When the site debuted Monday evening, several links didn’t work, pages sometimes took over a minute to load, and more than a few links still pointed users to the older site.
Taryn Wright, a freshman telecommunications major, said that she thought the new layout made the site feel more professional.
“It looks more business-y,” she said. “I like the graphics.”
The first thing users will notice is a cleaner, much more visually appealing look and feel, Mr. Gray said.
“Navigation of the Web site has been significantly simplified with fewer options presented on the page,” he stated.
Jazmine Cox, a freshman church music major, agreed.
“I think it looks more organized,” she said. “The options look easier to use.”
Departing from the traditional white background, new pages are wrapped with a blue frame featuring light and dark tones.
Pages also include an integrated search bar in the top right corner and a new navigation system that shows users a trail of previous pages.
The Lee Flame logo also watermarks the primary content on every section page of the new site.
“It looks official; it looks like a university’s page,” senior athletic training major Richard Blackman said. “It’s easier to take in visually.”
Not every student was as impressed, however.
“It’s kind of the same,” senior physical education major Erin Brown said, noting that she thought pages did at least look cleaner.
Senior church music major Jonathan Zajas updated his Twitter and Facebook status immediately after catching his first glimpse of the change.
“If I had picked which university to go to based on Web sites, it would NOT have been Lee University,” he wrote. “Terrible.”
Mareta Martin, a freshman sociology major, said she liked the new color scheme but felt that some of the text was smaller and more difficult to read.
“It’s pretty, it stands out better than the other Web site,” she said, noting that it seemed more convenient overall.
The new site also makes it easier for departments to update their own pages, programmer analyst Breanna Gray said.
A senior at Lee, Ms. Gray is the project manager for a team of four student workers responsible for the transition of the site’s system.
“It’s a long process; we’ve got about 7,500 Web pages on the site,” said Nate Tucker, associate director of Information Systems & Technology. “[Now] it will be easier to maintain.”
Upgrading the previous site required a manual update to all 7,500 pages, said Nate Tucker, associate director of Information Systems & Technology. The new system will allow for a redesigned look to be easily added across the entire site, he said.
Implementation of a content management system will allow specific departments on campus to easily control the content on pages relative to their office for the first time, Tucker said.
Such changes will increase the speed of updates, Mr. Gray said.
“The new site isn’t as overwhelming [as the previous one],” Blackman said, adding that “It’s different, so it’s going to take time to get used to all the changes.”
Ms. Gray said she was prepared for a rocky transition.
“There’s always going to be a little bit of resistance to change,” Ms. Gray said. “I think that once people get used to it and get a feel for it, they’re really going to love it.”
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