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- Each faculty and each school will have an area (or subsection or space) rather than a distinct site. See attachment for how these could be presented in a flattened IA.
- Faculties and schools that are combined, or wish to be combined on the web, will have a blended area. See attachment for how these could be presented in a flattened IA. Combined areas could be provided for: Law, Engineering and CS, and possibly Architecture and Design , and Faculty of Education/School of Education: Te Kura Māori (to be discussed).
- The faculty areas and school areas will be different from one another: they won't have duplicate content, and each of the two types of area will be tightly focused on a clear purpose and identified target audiences. They will be much simpler than the current sites.
- Where content represents a standard university approach, it will be located in a common area of the mainsite, rather than duplicated across faculty areas or school areas. For example:
- Student wellbeing and support will be located in 'Current students'.
- Alumni will be located in a new 'engagement hub' that is being planned.
- Overseas exchanges will be located in 'Victoria Abroad'.
- Content that is of high interest to Victoria's audiences will be centrally located on the mainsite, rather than in faculty areas or school areas. For example:
- Courses, subjects and programmes will be located in 'Study at Victoria' (now called 'Future students’). The structure, presentation and content will be improved.
- Diplomas, certificates and professional development courses will also be located in 'Study at Victoria'. Where these are postgrad (or 'graduate'), improving their content is in scope for the WIP2 project. Where they are 'pre-degree', improving their content of is out of scope.
- Staff profiles will be centrally located and 'surfaced' on faculty and school sites (as well as in other relevant areas of the Victoria website, such as news, courses, events, research centres and institutes).
- Research centres and institutes, profiles of research projects (current projects and significant past projects), research funding and research partnerships will be located in the 'Research' section.
- Research reports are extensive and diverse, and need careful consideration. One proposal is that they are located in the Library.
- Information about the location of Victoria's campuses, where to find faculties and schools within campuses, and higher-level content about facilities will live in an improved version of the area that is currently called Our campuses.
- Student study materials and other resources may eventually live in a student learning area of the homesite. This is a longer-term project.
- Content that demonstrates the work faculties and schools do will be clearly discoverable from within the faculty areas and school areas. This is particularly important for courses, subjects and programmes; research; and research centres. Two methods will be used to achieve this:
- Keyword tagging will enable some content types to be authored centrally, then pulled through to faculty areas and school areas.
- Clear links to related content will be integrated into the design.
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- The faculty areas and school areas will have a new design that is engaging and appealing, matches the homesite and works well on mobile devices.
Content
- Much of All the content that is currently on F&S sites will be improved as part of the project. Skilled web editors will ensure it is written for online readers and focused on its target audiences and written in plain language. Content will have It will be formatted for online readers, have more visual elements and be more engaging.
- Features will be rationalised: we'll plan more carefully what they cover, align them more closely with News, and include more multimedia. We'll ensure they're always recent.
- Guidance will be provided to faculties and schools to help them address some of the content management issues they mentioned at the workshops. It This will include advice on content planning, and tools and techniques for keeping content current. It will draw on effective practices identified in the workshops, and expertise and prior experience within the web team.
- Findings from user sessions with Victoria students relevant to which channels they prefer will be shared with faculties and schools.
The Faculty of Graduate Research will be addressed in the postgrad phase of WIP 2 (phase 3).
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School area
Purpose
- Provide a profile of the school and its activities, demonstrating its strengths and distinctiveness.
- Provide a base for school-specific study and research information and materials for current students. (Longer term, this may live in a student learning area of the homesite.)
Audiences
Audience | Information needs |
|---|---|
Prospective staff | Is this somewhere I'd like to work? What do they do? Who else works here? |
Prospective students, including international students, and their influencers | Understand the strengths and features of the school. Why would I choose to study here? What would it be like being a student here? |
| Prospective research partners (industry and business, government (central, local), other universities) | Understand the strengths and features of the school. Why would I work with them? Who are their people? What are their areas of expertise? |
| Current students - both coursework and research | Study and research material and information that is distinct to the school/programme. |
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The content outline below represents a general example of what a school area might contain. While some content will be in all school areas (eg, Introduction, What we do), other content won't be required by all schools - and some schools may have additional content needs.
About us
| Introduction | Strengths, unique features. Vibrant, exciting, makes an emotional connection. Like a walk down Cuba St? Include a video tour? One page only. Consider including a 1-minute video from HOS. |
| What we do | Possibly part of the introduction? A description of the work the school does, with links to relevant content on the homesite (eg: Areas of studyTopics; Degrees; Postgrad quals; Research projects; Centres and institutes). May be a series of visual 'promo' links. |
| Location and facilities | Link to Our campuses. The content here should on the homesite. ('Our campuses' should be extended to include information about where to find faculties and schools within campuses, what general facilities are available, building/floor access, health and safety, and similar areas.. Identify audiences (students, visitors) and their needs.) Any 'local' information that is specific to the school and wouldn't be a fit on the mainsite can be added to this page. |
| Students | A small collection of features covering the university experience of recent students. |
| Staff | People finder tool? All staff associated with the school. Not presented in a table. |
| Alumni | Link to alumni area in new the new 'engagement hub'. Retain on the school site any school-specific information for alumni (eg, newsletters, how to sign up). (But note that this may move to the engagement hub eventually.) |
| Positions | Eg, Academic Visitors' Programme, Fellows, Curator in Residence (School of Art History). |
| Partners | Accreditation, affiliations, prof bodies, industry assns and partnerships, sponsors, donors. |
| Publications | Link to mainsite for relevant publications - eg: School Prospectus, Faculty Handbook. |
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Purpose: School-specific info for current students by coursework and research students that wouldn't fit into the generic content on areas on the homesite.
Content will vary by school - below is indicative only.
| Facilities | Eg:
| |
| Resources | Study and research resources - eg: databases, software, online written resources. Example: School of Linguistics | |
| Study groups | Student study groups. | |
| Work experience and internships | (Amend nav label as relevant to the content) Will only be required by a few schools - eg, ECS | |
| Forms and downloads | More an admin area. Forms and other key documents for students to access easily. May not be required by all schools. Must be relevant to school role (ie, don't include faculty forms and downloads). | |
Links | Current students Links (a tentative list) | 'Current students' - eg:
> Prizes
Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association (VUWSA)
Research section Research section - including:
|
Notes:
This approach is flexible: important 'local' content for current students that is currently on school sites can be included in 'Student info' (although eventually it may be incorporated into the homesite).
Examples:
- Law has 'local' content on overseas exchanges: http://www.victoria.ac.nz/law/study/overseas-exchanges
- VBS has 'local' content on case competitions: http://www.victoria.ac.nz/vbs/study-careers/student-opportunities/case-competition
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Faculty area
Purpose
- Provide a profile of the faculty, including its purpose, roles and responsibilities; structure and affiliations.
Primary audiences
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Find out about Student and Academic Services - what they can help with, how to contact them.
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- .
Audiences
Audience | Information needs | |
|---|---|---|
Prospective staff | Understand the strengths and features of the faculty. | IsIs this somewhere I'd like to work? Who else works here? |
| Current students - both coursework and research | Find out about Student and Academic Services - what they can help with, how to contact them. |
Home
| Intro | Intro block - brief. Linking to main intro in 'About us'. |
| Who to contact | Contact block. Include Student and Academic Services. |
| Our schools | 'Quicklinks' to schools. |
| Links (a tentative list): | Research Centres and institutes Areas of study (topics, degrees, postgrad programmes) |
Content
| About us | Purpose and role of faculty. What sets our faculty apart. Punchy, marketing focus. Consider video where appropriate.Strategic objectives. Strengths and features. Org chart. Link to faculty handbook. | |
| Location | Link to Our campuses. Include faculty-specific info about facilities if necessary. | |
| Staff / Faculty staff | People finder tool? All staff associated with the school. Not presented in a table. Student and Academic Services - who, what, when (counter hours), where. | |
| Forms | As on faculty sites now - large number of downloads. (May move to 'Current students' in the future.) | |
| Mission, vision and values | If required | |
| Structure | Org chart | |
| Committees and boards | If required. Complex information needs to be simplified or 'flattened' out - not nested too deeply. | |
| Affiliations | If relevant at faculty level (rather than school level) | |
Dean's list | Dean's list, Dean's award.Links | Current students - specific links for all relevant areas. |
Clubs in central location: http://www.victoria.ac.nz/students/campus/clubs
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Summary of approach
- Sections/areas, not separate sites.
- Much smaller and simpler - audience focused, clearly defined purpose.
- Content much more integrated with mainsite. Content exposed in key areas of site where visitors are looking at related material.
- No content duplication.
- Flexible approach - 'local' content that has no logical home on mainsite remains on school site.
- Aligned with mainsite approach for content being organised by task, topic or user group - not by organisational structure.
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