From: UTA Administrators [mailto:ADMINISTRATORS@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU] On Behalf Of Montague, Suzanne S
Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 1:46 PM
To: ADMINISTRATORS@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU
Subject: Announcement: New web direction and Design/Support Tool

 

TO:                 All VPs, Deans, Department Chairs and Directors
 
CC:                Campus web developers
                       Campus Communicators Forum members
 
FROM:           Suzanne Montague, Vice President for Information Technology
                       Jerry Lewis, Vice President for Communications
 
RE:                  UT Arlington Website Content Management System
                        www.uta.edu/cms
 
 
In 2007, UT Arlington’s entire website was formally reviewed by Stamats, a higher-education consulting group. The University's specific objective for the review was to discover ways to improve the entire site's design, structure and functionality.  Several data-collection methods, including focus groups of faculty, staff, students, alumni and prospective students, provided a well-rounded review.  The resulting report strongly recommended that UT Arlington implement an enterprise Content Management System (CMS).  
 
A CMS provides many tools to those involved in designing and maintaining web pages:  it makes it easier to keep pages up-to-date, it reduces the occurrence of inaccurate or outdated information throughout the entire site, it helps make the site easier for visitors to navigate, and it can support efforts for consistent messaging and a complementary ‘look and feel’ throughout the site.
 
With the approval of President Spaniolo, OIT and University Communications have begun the process of implementing a Content Management System. During Spring 2008, OIT and University Communications will focus on learning, customizing, developing and testing the system to meet UT Arlington's unique needs.  This will be done by using OIT and University Communications' sites as learning environments. During summer 2008, we will go live with these sites, along with a few selected "early adopters."  With that learning curve complete, we expect to make the system available to more departments during the 2008-09 academic year.
 
In light of this, all departments are asked not proceed with any major and independent site re-designs until their pages can be migrated into the new UT Arlington CMS.  This does not mean you should forgo any planning for your updated site. On the contrary; now is the time to begin planning the functionality you want it to have.  To help you through that process, feel free to contact Amy Schultz aschultz@uta.edu  or Chuck Pratt chuck@uta.edu  for consultation.
 
For more detailed information about UT Arlington’s Content Management System, please visit www.uta.edu/cms .   We encourage you to utilize this site as a resource for the University’s CMS throughout the planning and implementation process.