Website Content Strategy
In my role as communications manager at the UWF College of Education and Professional Studies, I had full responsibility for the ownership of all content within the uwf.edu/ceps domain, which utilizes the Terminalfour CMS. The College of Education and Professional Studies is one of five colleges within a mid-sized public university in Florida. In addition to liaising with faculty and staff to gather and maintain content, I am responsible for communicating the importance of web governance, including adherence to accessibility and plain language guidelines.
Major Website Project
During the 2021-22 academic year, I served as the College of Education and Professional Studies liaison and content manager for the university’s major website overhaul. I worked in cross-functional teams, using InVision and GatherContent platforms, to draft copy and identify relevant content for the revised website, overseeing and executing the content migration, which included significant information architecture changes to the entire university domain.
Manage Content on OPM-Run Microsite
In Fall 2019 I oversaw the development and migration of all fully online program content to a microsite run by a third-party online program manager (OPM).
Research & Discovery
I gathered program information from faculty, staff and other internal stakeholders, identifying program curriculum, details, strengths, USP, key audiences and relevant visuals.
Accreditation and Certification
Our programs are overseen by various accrediting bodies (in this example, the Florida Department of Education and the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation). I must ensure content aligns with accreditation requirements and is accurately communicated to prospective students.
Doctoral Student Resources Canvas Site
My current employer, a public university in the Southeast, offers a doctorate of education (Ed.D.) program that is fully online, with more than 200 students enrolled.
The program involves a 12-Step Dissertation Process, formation of a dissertation committee and structural rubrics and guidelines for the dissertation, with roughly 30 corresponding forms. Internal stakeholders include academic departments, the doctoral program office, the dissertation support and quality assurance unit, the Graduate School, academic advisors and the Ed.D. Policy Group, composed of academic administrators.
I was tasked with overhauling the resources platform for these students, housed on the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS). Below I outline the work I conducted in this year-long process.
My Process
Discovery
I conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 current and recently graduated doctoral students to identify pain points in the doctoral journey. I distilled these insights into key themes and shared them with internal stakeholder groups to secure project buy-in.
Audit
I audited the existing 12-Step Process and Canvas content. I solicited feedback from internal stakeholders to streamline and digitize the process when possible.
Content Creation
I drafted a RFP and secured a professional video production company to create high-quality videos of people and resources relevant to the doctoral student journey. I handled all scheduling and drafted all video scripts.
Content Creation
I also solicited and edited video content from current students and recent graduates that addressed pain points identified in the discovery phase.
Navigation
Confusing navigation was another pain point identified in the interviews. I reorganized information to make navigation through the content more intuitive and flexible, depending on the user’s needs.
Ongoing Maintenance
I continually iterate based on stakeholder feedback and monitor content to ensure it reflects the most up-to-date policies and information.