As part of an effort to attract prospective high school students, Ohio University has redesigned and temporarily implemented a new home page on its Web site.
The new front door -which represents a college school desk with Web links on items, such as a Post-it note, OU football game tickets and an MP3 player -was posted eight days ago to help establish a unique institutional identity, said OU Interim Provost Kathy Krendl.
We are not a large research institution
but we are not a small intimate institution either she said. OU is a student-centered university ... and the new Web site shows that we understand how the student world is changing. Aside from any confusion, this home page is only up for a short period of time
Krendl said. The original time frame was to have the page up until May when housing deposits for incoming freshmen are due, but she said this has not been firmly decided.
Our target audience is prospective students
she said. We are monitoring feedback
which has not been overwhelmingly positive or negative. OU freshman and general arts major Laura Drapac said she likes the site's graphics.
After it was first posted
it was a drastic change
but it will definitely help attract high school students
she said.
However, visual communications graduate student Atoyia Deans dislikes the change.
There is no center of visual interest
Deans said. There are so many elements on the page that your eye doesn't know where to travel. The new design is the first step of many OU plans to make. The Web site is an important communication tool but not the only one, Krendl said.
To recruit students, OU also is restructuring scholarships, starting online chat rooms and creating focus groups, in which OU graduate students help high school students search the new Web page.
I guess I understand the purpose (of the Web page) as to primarily attract potential applicants and prospective high school students
said Greg Shepherd, interim dean of the OU College of Communication. It's still an open question as to whether it's effective. OU is tracking the Web page's effectiveness through efforts, such as the chat room in which about 1,000 students have participated so far, Krendl said.
David Descutner, dean and associate provost for undergraduate education, provided academic input to OU's communication and marketing as the Web site was designed, and he said he applauds the finished product.
It is clearly an attempt to connect with prospective students and increase our yield for next fall
