The University has revamped its homepage for the new academic year after a Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate survey brought attention to student criticism of the old site's opacity and outdated appearance.
"The content had been the same on the Web site [www.tufts.edu] since the late nineties and had become out of date," Assistant Director of University Relations Peter Sanborn said. "There have been many changes within the University since then, and we wanted to represent the momentum and energy that has grown at Tufts."
The Web site's overhaul was a collaborative effort between the University Relations Department and the Information Technology Services, a process that began last spring and was unveiled last week.
The redesign hopes to respond to student complaints about the convoluted, often frustratingly circular nature of the original Web site.
Student feedback generated from surveys issued by the Senate suggested that students wanted a "much more competitive, functional, and useful site," according to junior Ed Kalafarski, who presented a proposal to the Senate for a redesigned website with Senator John Valentine.
"The website was an embarrassment at that point," Kalafarski said.
After the redesign proposal was endorsed by the Senate, it was brought before Mary Jeka, Vice President of the University Relations Department. Senators then worked with administrators on "higher level" concepts related to the redesign.
The main page of the enhanced Web site strives for simplicity by working from the assumption that the user is not familiar with acronyms and other specifics of campus life. The redesigned site seeks instead to provide an overview of the University that is accessible to University applicants, parents, alumni, donors, and neighbors.
"The [old site's] design was really confusing, and as an incoming freshman it was very difficult to find what was relevant to me," said freshman Julie Mulinare.
For users who are more familiar with Tufts, a new "Inside Tufts" section of the site will be "much more focused on the internal community," Sanborn said. "We have consolidated sources that are relevant to everyday life at Tufts, such as news, announcements, and more comprehensive organization of resources into general areas."
Inside Tufts is "very interactive for current students and faculty, [as] you can customize it to your specific needs," Kalafarski said.
The new services provided by the Inside Tufts section resemble those on Tuftslife.com, which is an independently-run Web site beloved by Tufts students for its consolidation of campus events, news, weather, and useful links.
Sanborn said, "We are not trying to replicate what they [Tuftslife] do, which is very internally focused."
Another aspect of the revamped Web site is the plethora of new images to accompany the text.
"The original Web site had over 900 links and only 12 photos," Sanborn said. The new site features photos shot by professional photographer Tom Kates and by Tufts senior Matthew Edmundson.
"We wanted the site to showcase people, not just buildings," Sanborn said. Users, especially prospective students, should "walk away with a person, a face, and there is no better way to showcase the students and their many amazing stories. That's what will make our site stand apart."
Indeed, the largest expense incurred by the redesign was hiring Kates, since the bulk of the project was undertaken by Tufts PR and IT collaborators, keeping costs to a minimum.
The project is an ongoing effort that will be "both refined and expanded in the future," Sanborn said. "This is our first stab at making a change, and we want people to see what they want on the site."
Students have already noticed the improvements. "The old Web site was awkward and its links sent you places you neither understood, nor could get back from," said sophomore Peter Olivier. "The new one is much easier to navigate. No one ever used the site before, and I think that they will now."
Senior Shaharris Beh agreed that the newly modeled site is "a great improvement over previous years' Web sites."
"There are great things coming from the University, and we hope we have created a site that captures the energy of this institution," Sanborn said. "We want people [who visit the site] to feel what Tufts is all about. We really want it to pop."
"I personally am thrilled with the result. It's everything I wanted and more - it looks good, it works well, and they're going to keep going with it, adding even more functionality," Kalafarski said. "It's already better than most other universities' competing Web sites and it's just going to keep getting better."
