University Launches Redesigned Website

By Duane Paul Murphy

The Catholic University of America launched the first phase of its website redesign on Thursday to enhance the university’s marketable image towards potential applicants. However, other academic and individual offices and departmentmental websites have not yet been subjected to updates.

The updated website, which has been in development for the past seven months, is based on the web content management software system called Cascade Server, which was purchased by the university based on the recommendations of its business partner, Elliance Inc. Elliance is a Pittsburgh based digital marketing agency that assists companies and other organization with web content.

The updated website promotes the slogan: “Cultivating Catholic Minds.” According to the academic section of the website, a Catholic mind “is a mind that seeks to see things as they are. It is a mind that penetrates to the essence of a thing or a situation or a person. Or a science, a country, or an art form.”

“As part of the website redesign project, we have also engaged in the work of developing a new marketing theme to support our efforts to strengthen the University’s reputation” said Christopher Lydon, Vice President of Enrollment Management and Marketing. “You will see the first iteration of our new marketing theme – ‘Cultivating Catholic Minds’ – with the launch of the redesigned website. We view the website redesign as a ‘soft’ launch of the theme and will be refining an integrated marketing campaign in the coming months. We believe the investment in this campaign will pay dividends for the University in the years to come.”

When asked why the website needed to be changed, Lydon said that the website needed an update for the sake of new content and to bring about a stronger visual presence.

“The short-term goal is to develop a top tier of the website that is visually attractive, reinforces the core mission and distinctiveness of the institution, and can effectively integrate written, photographic and video storytelling,” Lydon said. “The long-term goal is to migrate all University website content under this design – that will likely take at least two more years.”

Many students on campus have given the updated website positive feedback regarding efficiency, navigation, and overall visual style.

“The new design of the University website is both aesthetically pleasing and much easier to navigate compared to the previous layout,” said freshman Politics major Omer Qureshi.

“After viewing the site, I can certainly see the intention to create more of a connection between students and the upcoming events and news at CUA, and I respect that intention,” said freshman Politics major Mason Thibault. “I think the site could do a better job on this front by keeping the old site design and adding in the new drop down menu: with specific news attached to the things students are clicking.”