The West Virginia University Web Services unit in cooperation with the WVU Alumni Association recently won a bronze Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District II Award for the redesign of the Alumni Associations Web site.
The site, located athttp://alumni.wvu.edu, features a calendar of events and an interactive map, making it easier for the associations more than 170,000 alumni to stay connected to WVU .
Cathy Orndorff, director of Web Communications, entered the site into the competition in the Alumni Relations category.
The alumni site has several differentials that make it unique, including the �€~pullout quotesfrom targeted alumni, the �€~how do Isection that aligns alumni with resources and the �€~profilesthat lift up outstanding alumni in featured stories,said Orndorff.
The site is alive and constantly changing. The overall product is user-friendly so that alumni of all ages can find information and stay in touch with the University.
The updated Web page is the result of an Alumni Attitude Survey the Association conducted three years ago, said Stephen Douglas, president and chief executive officer. Approximately 5,000 alumni were surveyed about what they would like to see on the new site. Once the site was redesigned, the Alumni Association invited a focus group comprised of 17 individuals from different regions of the United States to comment on the pages new look.
After many discussions with our alumni through focus groups and surveys, we found that graduates wanted a more robust on-line medium to stay in touch with their alma mater,Douglas said.We used that feedback to work with WVU s Web Services to create a new, user-friendly site so that we can better meet the needs of our alumni worldwide. It is wonderful to see the hard work and creativity of this collaborative partnership recognized by CASE .
The Alumni Association site had not been updated or redesigned in nearly 10 years, Douglas added. Today, the site receives 50,000 hits per week.
Chris Scharf, a 2005 graduate with a bachelors degree in computer engineering, was the Web site designer. Scharf was a student intern when the project began and is now a full-time professional technologist with Web Services.
The new alumni design allows alumni to stay connected to the university,Scharf said. This site is a central place where alumni can find out about events, traditions and fellow alumni.
The Case Award will be presented to Web Services and the Alumni Association at the Awards Gala during the CASE District II Conferencein New York City, Feb. 10-13.
CASE District II is headquartered in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. In addition to West Virginia, District II consists of Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Ontario.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., CASE is the professional organization for advancement professionals at all levels who work in alumni relations, communications and development.
CASE s membership includes more than 3,250 colleges, universities and independent elementary and secondary schools in 54 countries around the world. It serves more than 47,000 advancement professionals and has more than 22,300 professional members.