Press Release
Contact: Office of the College President, Coni Chavez, (209) 588-5115
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 16, 2013
Columbia College’s completely re-hauled website is expected to go-live on Monday, September 23. The College’s website is THE electronic face of Columbia College in terms of online access to programs and services, as well as introduction and relationship building with our audience of students, prospective students, and community. The website has the ability to engage students and prospective students before they step foot onto campus; or, in some cases, engage those who will have a solely on-line experience. Thus, upon conclusion of this project, the website will offer a more unified and modern appearance and will serve as the foundation for Columbia’s ever growing portfolio of online tools, services, information, and social media presence.
The re-haul is the result of recommendations compiled over the last 1.5 years approximately from campus constituents, as well as analytical data from the current site, and anticipated future trends. A team was formed to lead the update which included two very talented web developers, one specializing in technology and one in design, Brian Hill, Yosemite Community College District (YCCD) Web Developer, and Jeribai Tascoe, of recent HGTV acclaim, respectively, with the College President’s Office serving as project manager. Specific areas of focus were design, content, usability for the college’s student and prospective student audience, as well as conversion to mobile devices. Using a comprehensive plan to guide the work, an advisory committee, including students, was formed to provide feedback at various points during the development phase.
Functional navigation was also of utmost importance to increase satisfaction with the Columbia College web experience. Whereas the current site is organized by the organizational structure of the college, the new site is organized by category in terms of who is accessing the information. Further making the site easier to navigate, terminology and “jargon” was reviewed with a student and prospective student audience in mind and now provides for more intuitive naming conventions. An upgraded search tool, “breadcrumbs,” and stationary header and footer will also allow for easier navigation throughout the site.
Lastly, it is our expectation that this project will lead to greater accessibility and usability of the College website and will be an accurate online representation of the professionalism and top-notch programs and services offered at Columbia College.
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Coni M. Chavez
Executive Assistant to the President
Columbia College
11600 Columbia College Drive
Sonora, CA 95370
(209) 588-5115 • (209) 588-5161 fax
chavezc@yosemite.edu