Why we're doing this

Data shows that students form their first impressions about universities and base their most critical college decisions on their website experiences. Our current website, which has used the same homegrown framework for more than 20 years, does not deliver the experience that those prospective students expect to receive.

Benefits of our new website

• Consistency of Content
  • A content repository stores content that can be repurposed throughout the site; each time a specific block of content is required (for example, the description of a program or class), the same updated content will be used.
  • The new content management process will provide the necessary checks and balances to create more accurate messaging, eliminate broken links and ensure ADA compliance; it will also create a new governance structure that includes an approval process for all content on the website.
• Personalized Content
  • All content is tagged according to categories that allow it to be targeted to specific audiences at appropriate times. This allows us to enhance the user experience by providing the information each visitor is most likely looking for front and center on the site. It does not mean that the site will look different based on who is using it; the design will remain consistent, but the information given top billing will be personalized based on the categories of who, what, where and when.
• Support of the University’s Mission
  • Minnesota State Mankato has put a premium on making the most advanced and smart technologies available to the campus community. Our digital landscape must reflect this commitment. Our current web strategy does not support all of the smart technologies that our students, faculty and staff are using. We will be better able to provide the services they are looking for with the new web process and strategy.
  • The strategy for the new website will be aligned with the University's strategic priorities, allowing the benefits of the website to reach much further than recruitment and retention (faculty recruitment, partner engagement, increased donations, and so forth).
• Improved Efficiency
  • The new website will be much more nimble and will allow us to respond to the needs of the campus more quickly than we’ve been able to in the past.