I was on Emory’s webpage earlier today and is it just me or does it look extremely dated (especially compared to its peer schools)? To me, it looks like an interface from 2007. Do you guys know if it would be updated anytime soon?
I’m pretty sure Oxford College of Emory updated their webpage last year.
Did Emory College not do the same?
http://www.emory.edu/home/index.html
Looks pretty dated to me.
@TheTennisNinja
Yeah, it could use an update. Not sure when but they have updated other portions of the site.
@BiffBrown : That doesn’t count as an update for the University website…the overall template is the same as 2008(or 2009) update, they just removed the buttons at the top and placed all the portals associated with them as links at the bottom of the page. Why, I don’t know? But it is the same template.
@TheTennisNinja : Yes, last was updated 2008 I think and since then they made some small tweeks to make it slightly more dynamic but not really. They have seemed to focus upon making major updates to subunits (College, Oxford, Law, etc. Med is the last subunit that will be updated…not sure when it will happen but I think it is in the works) though. Also, the issue isn’t the webpage being “dated” so much as “bland” in comparison to most others. Only a few schools have a brand so big that they can afford to have bland university web pages (Harvard updated fairly recently, and its looked rough before it, I would say more like Emory before this post-2008 template, but it is also Harvard. Stanford took a while too) and even many of them choose not to. One issue with Emory is that it has been working on this unified branding/web template for a while for academic departments and other things, and they were based upon the Emory University webpage. However, based upon how the subunits look, they can honestly let go of the University webpage looking like it does now and aim higher. The departmental webpages can of course continue to use the University template and will still look far better than average (compared to peers, many of Emory’s departmental webpages actually look very nice. Most schools don’t take so good care of the academic department interfaces).
If you wanna see a change or actually care, contact the Provost or folks responsible for University Communications and Marketing (maybe post links to peers’ webpages):
http://communications.emory.edu/marketing-communications/
And honestly, if you see someone like Sterk, straight up tell her: “I think Emory can do better in terms of this gateway webpage and many schools already do”
I recently e-mailed the provost specifically about finding a way to present/market signature programs of the university via the web interface (used an example from Duke actually. they had a single webpage nicely highlighting key signature programs available. This makes current and prospective students aware of such programs all in one place). I chose the provost because he technically is supposed to lead intellectual life and ensure academic quality of all units and signature academic programs is kind of under “intellectual life” and academic quality.
Either way, there are ways to not just complain on here or among friends, but to take action or let administrators know. Believe it or not, they may care and will at least pretend to by giving at least a generic reply to inquiries claiming that they read it and all. I think Emory students need to do more than complain amongst themselves to get the place to present itself better and to just do better. Emory has had big administrative changes and is in the middle of strategic planning for many units and communications and marketing what Emory does better is on the agenda. If you feel a certain way about it, please use your voice to be heard. It really is an optimal time to vocalize concerns. The best schools didn’t get that way by students complaining among themselves, they went to the right people to make things happen. They are the “consumers” after all.
The videos could also use an upgrade. The intro voice sounds a bit stodgy in an Alistair Cooke PBS Masterpiece Theater kind of way. I sat through so many of the videos and watched the online ones of several schools and the good one try to capture the feel of the school. @bernie12 once students are admitted to Emory, they probably don’t care about that webpage and pay more attention to campus life.
@ljberkow : I mean the OP lol. Of course admitted students don’t care. I am just saying that if they have concerns about ANYTHING, tell someone who matters and do something about it. Time to stop sitting around and pouting. Propose ideas to the right people or make stuff happen. Emory doesn’t have an academic complaining culture thank goodness, but it does about everything else. I am admittedly a part of it, but since I actually care about the things I express concern towards, I try to contact administrators or people who may also care about the issue. Emory students need to act like they have some role in shaping the place’s future while they are attending as they are an integral part of it. Believe it or not, changes to things like campus life and other things can be made while students are attending. As much as Emory does new construction, doing things that enhance the lives and pedigree of the education students receive ain’t asking for much. I think students just need to learn how to do more than go to the Wheel. Some constituents have been very successful. There is for example a reason why this:
http://college.emory.edu/orientation/orientation/pre-orientation-programs.html
(Stanford has a program like this and I think Emory’s actually gets a bit more participants. In fact, it is first year, it got more participants than Stanford even allocates money towards now, after raising the allocation)
and this:
(this could become a signature program, they should keep this updated IMHO)
These came about because students pressed for this sort of things. Regardless of what you think of their methods, these are great programs to come out of, in part at least, the Black Student Demands:
http://dialogue.emory.edu/documents/rji/retreat/2017/posters.pdf
Emory students are capable of bringing about what I think is substantial changes that will enhance their education and campus life (Dean Nair, who just left for Arcadia University’s presidency was in fact very responsive to this, and I don’t know what everyone thinks about who campus life is now, because the standards seem too high among some if you ask me, but I am willing to bet it is better now than before him and he didn’t do all that by himself)
Also, considering how much some students are concerned about the ranking and external prestige and crap like that and how they “want Emory to return to the top 20”…like that is some super meaningful accolade, they perhaps should learn to care about how the school presents itself including webpages, because let us face it, some of the schools who are in the “top 20” are not really there because they have better academics than Emory or necessarily even better campus life. They may not be better schools in any way, but they damned sure market and present themselves a lot more aggressively to prospective students and the public in general. That of course makes an impact on recruitment which USNWR responds to very easily (not only by the specific selectivity metrics, but by things that interact with it like PR score and stuff. Peer administrators and HS counselors may often not know much about how certain peer schools function/perform other than marketing and relative selectivity, so when they rank schools, that, other than sabotaging some places, will be first in their minds). Just seems like many Emory students think that almost every aspect of the school besides their personal interactions, grades, and friends just behave independently of them. They really are a part of a larger institution and should start acting like it if they want their degrees to grow in value. Learn to make demands that will benefit both them, the folks they care about, and the institution is all I am saying.
@bernie12 I am currently a student at Emory so the webpage doesn’t really matter to me but I do know people who are interested in attending Emory. If they visit the webpage, they might be a bit turned off by its comparatively dated appearance. I’m enjoying my time here and would like for prospective students to see it in a similar way.
@TheTennisNinja : Yes, but if you think the marketing matters, tell someone who can do something about it (I mean come on, you felt strong enough to post about it here…consider that. What exactly are we supposed to do about it? What are prospective students to do about it?). Even as a current student, you should care about the school’s future. I know this may be hard to grasp because Emory doesn’t really have that ethos, but it needs to start somewhere. Something as small as bringing that up to the right people can have an impact. My point was that current students and alum are a part of a larger institution, that I hope, we would want to thrive.
Daughter graduated in 2014 and I remember thinking then that the web site was dated and clunky. They really need to do something.
Emory’s home webpage from Dec 2016
https://web.archive.org/web/20161231080307/http://www.emory.edu/home/index.html
Emory’s home webpage from today
www.emory.edu/home/index.html
Oxford College of Emory’s home webpage from Dec 2016
http://oxford.emory.edu
Oxford College of Emory’s home webpage from today
http://oxford.emory.edu/
Oxford’s has definitely received an upgrade and Emory’s definitely could use one.
Correction:
Oxford College of Emory’s home webpage from Dec 2016
https://web.archive.org/web/20161211184541/http://oxford.emory.edu
@BiffBrown Well…I’m not going to be the one contacting anyone this time. There is now a CC thread on this and I didn’t make it. Time for Y’ALL to try to fix this one lol (or at least point the issue out to someone who matters at Emory).
@bernie12 I’ll take one for the team haha