Stakeholder: Peggy Burns
Website: http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/tools/ace
Redo Contact: Ryan Kellett
ACE is the most important resource on campus faculty interested in community-connected teaching, learning, and research-and for students who are interested in volunteering, social justice issues, activism and advocacy, citizenship, and international service opportunities. ACE should be a portal for all things service-whether curricular, co-curricular, or extra-curricular. In the current economic climate and as health and human services statewide budget cuts take effect, community needs change regularly-and because this is an active campus in terms of service, it is important that the site is perceived as dynamic and up to date/accurate.
Specifically and generally, what do you want from a new site? (as an individual and as an office)
-To have a prominent place on the overall Middlebury College site to promote current and future community-connected teaching, learning, and research opportunities to faculty.
-To have a prominent place on the overall Middlebury College site so that students (current and prospective) as well as faculty and staff interested in community service opportunities and social justice issues can find ACE easily.
-To promote immediate community service needs in a prominent way.
-To be able to promote specific opportunities (internships, conferences, on-campus events) to students.
-To have a number of different “Channels” (like we do now) to divide up the different portions of our site, e.g. Community Service, Anti-Poverty Initiatives, etc.
-ACE has so many pieces-we hope to find a coherent navigational “theme” that brings it all together.
What will help your office get things done more efficiently? How can a new website help your workflow?
-Easier and more flexible content creation, editing, photo/graphic use.
-Better forms (for nominations, community service sign-ups, etc.).
-Better way to archive/view old pages and photographs.
What type of interactivity would you use? What can help your office communicate more effectively?
-A calendar feed that we have on our website with ACE-related events that also automatically feeds into a larger campus-wide site-and have a way for RSVP to come to us plus have the event added to respondent’s Outlook calendar. Also-a way to promote “outside” events as well via the calendar (e.g., an environmental rally in Burlington).
-A section that promotes professional development opportunities for faculty.
-An interactive calendar for faculty.
-Video (interviews with students and community partners, worksites in action, etc.).
-Video of faculty teaching community-connected courses; interviews with community partners involved in community-connected teaching, learning, and research.
-Opportunity for students, faculty, staff, and community partners to sign up for ACE e-newsletter.
-A way to enable students abroad to report on their service/internships/engagement there (but more formal than a blog, reviewed by ACE first).
-Link for recording volunteer hours (as part of student portal?).
-Online payment (e.g., for MAlt trips).
-How can we get alumni involved?
Do you have examples of functionality, design, or features from other colleges or industries that you like and admire?
-Sites of ACE-related offices (civic engagement, service learning, community service, citizenship, etc.) at Bowdoin http://www.bowdoin.edu/mckeen-center/index.shtml , Tufts http://activecitizen.tufts.edu/ , Amherst https://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/cce , and Swarthmore http://www.swarthmore.edu/langcenter.xml . Also: Georgetown, Macalaster, Princeton, Carleton, Bryn Mawr, and Colgate.
-We really want to have the capability to create “photo slideshows” on a regular basis-the type of slideshow where the picture changes automatically every few seconds. Here is an example of what we like: http://www.colgate.edu/DesktopDefault1.aspx?tabid=1870. Here is an example of what we don’t want: http://www.middlebury.edu/admissions/gallery/?galleryImage=0 because you have to click “next” each time.
If you currently create or edit pages on any of our web sites, what functionality is good? What could be improved?
-We like that we can create content (e.g., a new News and Events story) and add it immediately to the website without going through a lengthy or bureaucratic approval process.
-We would like it if there were a better system for the News and Events Feed archives… right now they just run down the right-sidebar in a long column.
-We would like ACE to be able to use both the left and right sidebars (if the new system has both sidebars). Right now we can only use our right side-bar although some offices use both sides.
-Web stats! We need information on who visits the ACE page-and which section(s) are most visited.
-Less “homemade” looking-e.g., it’s so obvious when the home page looks great, but other pages look just cobbled together (not arguing for total conformity, just a conformity in overall graphic appeal). More opportunity/options for choosing design emphasis (heads, etc.).
-More seamless and clarifying links to collaborating departments (e.g., CCAL).
-Better search is critical.