Periodically, the Suffolk University Web site is reviewed and redesigned to meet the needs of the University and the requirements of its constituent audiences.

These include:

• Prospective Students (both undergraduate and graduate)
• Parents of prospective and current students
• High School guidance counselors
• Current students
• Faculty and staff
• Alumni
• Researchers from the university community
• Our local community

The current redesign, which launched in September, 2006, is the largest in the University's history. An outside vendor, BigBad, Inc., was engaged to create the site design, manage the revision of the site architecture, and to build templates for the University, the College, the Business School and the Law School. The CMS selected was Red Dot.

The site redesign is intended to

• Bring site architecture and content more in line with current goals and requirements of the university, and allow for future growth
• Implement a Content Management System
  • Shift accessibility to and responsibility for a majority of content to information providers including schools, departments, and research centers
  • Make future redesigns easier, more efficient, and more cost-effective 
• Establish a consistent visual identity for the University, the College of Arts & Sciences and its New England School of Art and Design, The Sawyer Business School, and the Law School, while allowing each school to retain its unique identity and focus
• Ensure the highest levels of usability, and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act

The current architecture and design is the result of an eighteen-month process involving more than three hundred members of our faculty and staff.

Under the direction of Provost and Academic Vice President Patricia Meservey, a Web site Redesign Steering Committee, consisting of representatives form University Departments, the College, the Business School, and the Law School met regularly to determine priorities, approve changes to the site architecture, review and approve design changes, and to identify new opportunities.

The Committee also assigned tasks to the 15 teams that researched potential changes, explored opportunities for improvement, and developed new materials, including content (text) and photography.

The teams were:

• Content Team (Later Content Oversight Team)
• Photo Team
• Navigation Team
• CMS Implementation Team
• Publications Team
• Statistics Team
• Faculty Team
• Event Calendar Team
• Directory Team
• Catalog and Course Description Team
• Policies & Procedures Team
• Financial Information Team

We invite institutions of higher learning who have questions or comments about our Web site or our redesign process to contact us.