All Blog Posts (152)

So, I hate mailto. I can't tell you how much, because the English vocabulary is inadequate to describe how much hate I hate mailto links.

So, I had a form made. I hate the form. It works just fine, but there's no way to add an attachment.

Have y'all explored any other approaches? Perhaps found a form that does the job well?

Last fall Google Analytics added a new feature called Real-Time. These new reports let you see what’s happening on your site, as it happens.

In my department there are several people who tweet, post on Facebook and send out e-newsletters and other marketing materials. The Real-Time reports give them immediate feedback on the effectiveness of their efforts.

It also shows us what’s trending. One morning, referrals and active pages focused on the nursing program. An hour later, as…

1. Quit being overwhelmed by Google Analytics data. Learn how from Avinash Kaushik
2. Take time to ensure proper and accurate measurement is set up to capture traffic as it moves across multiple sites—student portal, Library, athletics, payment… Move Visibility will do a site audit.
3. Gather customer feedback on a regular basis with tools like…

I met with my director this morning to discuss end of the year challenges like limited budget and cuts in staffing. At the end of our meeting he paused, and then asked me, "Are you having fun?"

I must have looked surprised because he asked me again, "Are you having fun? Do you feel good about things?" My immediate response was "Yes, everything is great!" (Hey, he's my boss, it's three days before Christmas, now is not the time to complain.)

I left his office, went back…

My previous post was about how students were confused regarding what information was on portal vs. what was on the external web site, and changes we had made to help them figure it out.

Today I came across a great example. Santa Barbara City College,identifies pathways with START HERE! and emphasizes content that is unique to their student portal, under the heading "What's Inside."

And, notice the way they present…

Students at Harper College must use the student portal for all business-related transactions, such as registering, paying tuition and accepting financial aid awards. But most other information—academic programs, college catalog, calendar of events, advising—is on the external site.

Through user testing, we saw that students were confused about which site to go to, to accomplish particular tasks. They would search the external site for information that was only available on…

Bedework is an open-source calendar system, built with an emphasis on higher education. It conforms to current calendaring standards, which means you can share events with iCal, Outlook or Google calendars.

It wil run as a portlet in UPortal, JetSpeed2, BEA and Liferay.

It's used by a wide variety of schools such as Brown, Yale, Julliard, University of Chicago and Illinois State…

In October we had a visit from the Tibetan Lamas of the Drepung Loseling Monastery. While they were here, they created a sand mandala and then dispersed the sand in a local stream. It was an amazing experience for our students, staff and faculty. I love working on a…

What does it really cost to attend college? To get the answer, subtract aid that doesn't have to be repaid, such as merit and need-based grants, and any tuition discount the school is giving you. Or, use a net price calculator.

The federal government is requiring all colleges (post-secondary institutions which receive federal funding and have first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students including public, private nonprofit and for-profit schools) to have a calculator on their web…

The future of mobile development is a strong one. The question these days is..."Is it better to build a mobile website or a mobile app"? Will new and developing browser technologies like…

With 100 millions users on Linkedin, it's time to start paying attention to your Linkedin "Company Profile Page."

Linked is awesome because it’s network aware.When a Linkedin member views a company page they'll see if someone in their network works at that company. And, bonus, they’ll know if someone in their network recommends that company's products or services. That’s the most credible and authentic word-of-mouth advertising available.

Somebody on Linkedin is bound…

Hey folks,

Looks like Facebook recently changed the procedure for converting personal pages (like many schools set up their initial Facebook forays) into organization pages.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php?migrate

Improved, but still not seemless.

Cheers,

Svend

Need PR? Bookmark this resource: HARO (Help a reporter out)

Reporters from The New York Times to the Nate Berkus Show use HARO as a resource for subject experts -- and experts can easily pitch stories to all 30K participating journalists.

Founded by the CEO of Geek Factory, Peter Shankman, HARO is the cheapest (FREE), most efficient (delivered daily to your email) and effective…

The announcement that the Gates Foundation Invests in Facebook App for College Studentsprompted our organization to look at what we're already doing on Facebook.

We do get more conversations on Facebook (particularly during events like last week’s blizzard!), but we only have about 2,300 people in our Facebook community. Impressive for for our Facebook efforts, but much smaller than our total student…

Universities and colleges need solutions to cost-effectively build and manage web sites. Learn from two University web experts how they used DotNetNuke to build cost effective, secure, and flexible sites.  Do you need to build sites that enable students, teachers, administrators and alumni to communicate and collaborate? Do you face tight budget constraints and lack of staff? These experts will provide practical advice that will help you to deliver powerful web sites for…

Unfortunately, Pima Community College will always be associated with mass shooter Jared Lee Loughner. While the horrific incident didn't take place on their campus, it does remind us that any public space can be violated and that every organization needs an emergency action plan.

An Emergency Action Plan isn't just a nice-to-have. It's required by OSHA standards…