Again and again, students hear changes are coming to campus. It starts to feel reminiscent of Chicken Little scrambling around yelling, “The sky is falling, the sky is falling!”
In the July 17 campus update, Interim President Stan Liberty said the university was working to improve digital marketing and messaging. In order to meet these goals, Bradley created a social media contract with Evolution Labs, a firm that specializes in helping schools enhance their interactions with students.
Two consultants were hired, Andy Beadle will work with enrollment management, marketing and communications teams to improve the university’s digital marketing. Ruth Vedvik is an enrollment management consultant.
Well, some of the changes are already here.
With these new collaborations, the university is revamping the website in an effort to create a more sophisticated and unified image for its online presence. Additional goals include easier to navigate pages and increased accessibility for individuals such as prospective students that are unfamiliar with the website.
One of the major changes regarding the university’s online presence is the new landing page of the website. The first element that jumps our at you should be the high-resolution, promotional pictures of campus, right?
That’s not the case. It’s actually the bright white “MAKE YOUR GIFT” tab smack dab at the top of the page.
To put it bluntly, it’s tacky. If we’re going to solicit money, let’s at least make it a little less obvious.
The donation tab cannot even stay in one place; it migrates around based on the device someone is using to access the website. Among other flaws is the tendency of the social media icons to repeat twice in the toolbar.
The majority of people using the website are likely to stumble over the glitches at least once and grumble obscenities at the screen.
Unless there is a total redesign of the website, it will be left feeling piecemeal and fragmented. Are we asking for too much too soon? Perhaps.
But didn’t Bradley hire these consultants and firm for a reason? Websites can be totally redesigned without the changes being published, so the flaws can be eliminated before website visitors see them. These hiccups reflect poorly on the skills of the consultants and firm.
The most concerning issue, however, lies not with these technical difficulties and poor taste features but rather with the shift of focus.
A website that previously highlighted student and university achievements prominently on the home page and appealed to a variety of audiences has transitioned into a desperate marketing piece tailored only to prospective students.
This diverse audience of students, employees, parents and alumni have been disregarded in an alarmingly easy fashion.
Those making the decisions for these changes should keep in mind the people who make Bradley, Bradley. If these simple changes in our website are indicative of the overall attitude shift of university administrators and procedures, we will not only have an admissions issue but also a significant retention issue.
Enrollment is down, and yes, it is a serious problem. To our Chicken Littles that are squawking about enrollment, however, we must remind you the sky is not actually falling and the hilltop town still needs tending.
