Clarksville, Ark. --- On Wednesday, July 20, University of the Ozarks will unveil an update to the university's websites.
The university websites were last redesigned about six years ago, according to Vice President for Enrollment Management Kim Myrick. At that time, facebook, Twitter, and other social media were not factors in website development, but because the internet is central to recruitment, updating the look and functionality of the site was critical.
The current redesign project was based on input from campus-wide focus groups conducted by Mindpower, Inc., an advertising agency based in Atlanta, Georgia. Mindpower produced the initial design templates for the site and the university webmaster then modified the templates and transferred the current site content. The new site features:
- a completely updated design
- updated photography
- improved navigation, both audience-based and topic-based, with drop-down menus to help users more quickly find information
- a quick links bar with frequently accessed URLs
- a search box, available across the entire site
"We looked at many college and university sites, but in the end I feel we came up with something that reflects Ozarks," said Myrick. "The new site is a doorway into University of the Ozarks that’s beautiful to look at, easy to use, and rich with the information most important to future students and their families."
Although the university has maintained a website since the mid-1990’s, Myrick says of its latest iteration, "Maintaining the university’s web presence is a never-ending project. As we move forward, we plan to incorporate themes from our recent brand and institutional identity work. We feel we’ve brought the site up to date in a fresh and effective way."
The new site is scheduled to go live on Wednesday, July 20. The site will be unavailable during the upgrade, which is expected to last from 4:30 pm to approximately 6:30 pm. Feedback about the site should be directed to the university webmaster at webmaster@ozarks.edu.
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