SIUC to unveil new Web site next week

A redesign of SIUC's Web site will be unveiled on Thursday, April 12.

The new design is the result of many meetings with focus groups during the past several weeks — involving faculty, students, staff, alumni, and students from high schools in Southern Illinois, the Chicago area, and the Metro East.

Janet Douglas, the director of Web Services for SIUC's University Communications, said that a couple of hundred people have been involved so far in providing input for the new Web design.

A key purpose of the Web site is serving as a recruiting tool for prospective students and their parents, Douglas said.

"We will continue to hold focus groups and will be working with University Admissions to identify more high schools to go to," she said.

"We certainly encourage all comments," she said. "If you were in a focus group and don't see your suggestion, it doesn't mean it won't be used as we will continually update the Web site and incorporate new features and technologies."

Comments and suggestions may be sent to webmaster@siu.edu.

The Web site will be updated daily, she said.

Some of the new features that will be available on the Web site are flash and streaming videos. New maps will be coming soon, Douglas said.