‘Website refresh’ unveiling moved to April 2018, MAC to establish blog
By: Melissa Wilkinson
Editor-in-Chief
Chancellor Jeff Pittman announced via a Sept. 27 email that the launch of STLCC’s new website will be delayed until April 2018.
“While much work has been done to establish a new website space from the marketing context, after examining the existing content that has been developed, I believe there is still more that needs to be accomplished to completely build the site out in a manner that provides comprehensive functionality with programming and services for our students and staff,” said Pittman.
Pittman cited a variety of reasons for delaying the launch, including recent staff turnover in the web design team, the need to acquire more data regarding site content and the need for further user testing.
“Right now the website design team is two people,” said web designer Ben Shasserre. “And I’m one of them. The people that are actually pressing the buttons and making things work is down to two people.”
The website, originally set to debut in October, is supposed to give STLCC a, “new, more modern presence on the internet,” according to the email.
Ben Shasserre, who teaches web design at Meramec, is part of the team building the new site. Shasserre described the new site as “a visual refresh”, responsive and easier to navigate.
“We looked at the data and a majority of students [initially] access the website through their mobile phone. And then they realize that it doesn’t work that great on mobile and switch over to desktop,” said Shasserre. “We want to make it so students can access all the data they need in a quick, easy, good looking format.”
The new website will also be easier to manage from the back end, according to Shasserre. This means that users can control their own content as opposed to requesting a change from the designers. Shasserre said the change will empower users to “see the website as part of their own work” rather than as a separate entity.
According to Shasserre, the coding and design are nearly done and the current focus is on uploading and integrating content.
“It’s about getting all the content in there that we need to make everything make sense and to not lose all the different department’s information,” said Shasserre. “We’re trying to go through the review process before it goes live. Me and my counterpart, we’re focusing on making sure all these other systems work together with the new site.”
According to the email, STLCC’s Marketing and Communications team (MAC) will establish a blog in the coming months. The blog will be used to keep viewers updated on the status of the website as well as to collect feedback on functionality and design.
Shasserre said that after working on the project for nearly two years, he is confident in an April 2018 release of the new website.
“All the other entities…are finishing up their timelines in February, March,” said Shasserre. “With the amount of work that we have left I really feel that april is a reasonable timeline.”
